What now? What next? Insights into Australia's tertiary education sector

In this episode of the podcast Claire spoke with Natalie Turmine, CEO of Service and Creative Skills Australia (SaCSA) and Emma King OAM, CEO of HumanAbility, who head up the Jobs and Skills Councils responsible for:
Arts, Personal Services, Retail, Tourism and Hospitality (SaCSA), and
Aged and Disability, Children’s Education and Care, Health, Human Services, Sport and Recreation (HumanAbility)
In their discussion Emma and Natalie referred to the following:
The Australian government's announcement about expanding the Commonwealth Prac Payment: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/government-expands-paid-prac-strengthen-medicare
The amazing wonder of Uluṟu: https://northernterritory.com/gb/en/uluru-and-surrounds/destinations/uluru
Qualifications reform (this isn't the visual Claire referred to during the interview but helps explain how the reforms will work): https://youtu.be/untAGEvOvXk
HumanAbility's work on 'Earn While You Learn': https://humanability.com.au/research---workforce/research-projects/earn-while-you-learn-research-project.aspx
SaCSA's new data dashboard: https://sacsa.org.au/data-dashboard
SaCSA's Creative Workforce Scoping Study: https://sacsa.org.au/projects/creative-workforce-scoping-study
Holmesglen's Home and Community Care Centre of Excellence: https://www.holmesglen.edu.au/about-us/news/Holmesglen-leads-new-Centre-of-Excellence-for-home-care
Chisholm Institute's Digital, AI and Technology Centre of Excellence: https://www.chisholm.edu.au/news-and-events/news/news/new-digital-centre-of-excellence
IKEA's decision to retrain and redeploy 8,500 staff displaced by AI/automation: https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/ikea-turned-8500-call-agents-into-design-consultants/
Contact Claire:
Connect with me on LinkedIn: Claire Field
Follow me on Bluesky: @clairefield.bsky.social 
Check out the news pages on my website: clairefield.com.au
Email me at: admin@clairefield.com.au 

The ‘What now? What next?’ podcast recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Australia’s traditional custodians. In the spirit of reconciliation we are proud to recommend John Briggs Consulting as a leader in Reconciliation and Indigenous engagement. To find out more go to www.johnbriggs.net.au

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Prof. Michelle Trudgett, DVC Indigenous Leadership, Western Sydney University.
Here are the links mentioned in the interview:
Know your worth: valuing Indigenous leadership positions in
Australian higher education https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2026.2670000
Indigenous Centre of Excellence at Western Sydney University: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/western-growth/icoe
Mother and three children embark on shared journey to becoming Indigenous doctors
IRU (now 2050 Alliance) analysis of the impact of Job-ready Graduates funding: https://iru.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Impacts-of-the-Job-Ready-Graduates-policy-and-options-for-reform-IRU-analysis.pdf
The GO Foundation: https://www.gofoundation.org.au
Contact Claire:
Connect with me on LinkedIn: Claire Field
Follow me on Bluesky: @clairefield.bsky.social 
Check out the news pages on my website: clairefield.com.au
Email me at: admin@clairefield.com.au 

The ‘What now? What next?’ podcast recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Australia’s traditional custodians. In the spirit of reconciliation we are proud to recommend John Briggs Consulting as a leader in Reconciliation and Indigenous engagement. To find out more go to www.johnbriggs.net.au

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Alex White, the CEO of the Victorian TAFE Association, to discuss a new research report and Alex's broader insights into VET and the public TAFE sector.
The VTA's new TAFE Employment Outcomes report is available on their website: https://vta.vic.edu.au/employment-outcomes-report/
Contact Claire:
Connect with me on LinkedIn: Claire Field
Follow me on Bluesky: @clairefield.bsky.social 
Check out the news pages on my website: clairefield.com.au
Email me at: admin@clairefield.com.au 

The ‘What now? What next?’ podcast recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Australia’s traditional custodians. In the spirit of reconciliation we are proud to recommend John Briggs Consulting as a leader in Reconciliation and Indigenous engagement. To find out more go to www.johnbriggs.net.au

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by the founder and CEO of Voyage, Matthew Donlon, to discuss student perceptions of and questions about studying in Australia, how they are reacting to conflict and global uncertainty and what they want from institutions as AI reshapes the graduate jobs market.
The Voyage website is: https://myvoyage.io/app/thesocialsource
And details of the the recent change made by the UK government to international education are at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/universities-face-ban-on-international-students-over-visa-abuse
Contact Claire:
Connect with me on LinkedIn: Claire Field
Follow me on Bluesky: @clairefield.bsky.social 
Check out the news pages on my website: clairefield.com.au
Email me at: admin@clairefield.com.au 

The ‘What now? What next?’ podcast recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Australia’s traditional custodians. In the spirit of reconciliation we are proud to recommend John Briggs Consulting as a leader in Reconciliation and Indigenous engagement. To find out more go to www.johnbriggs.net.au

In this episode of the podcast Claire is joined by Prof. Phillip Dawson from CRADLE at Deakin University. During the episode you'll hear them mention the following resources:
The Castlereagh Statement: https://castlereagh.ai/
Research on academic cheating by Prof. Guy Curtis and colleagues: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40979-026-00215-z (open access)
Prof. Dawson's LinkedIn post with the AI glasses: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/philldawson_you-designed-an-interactive-oral-assessment-share-7454689736088109056-zZMo/?
His research with Dr Thomas Corbin & Sue Sharpe on AI wearables and teaching/assessment: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2026.2661367 (open access)
TEQSA's GenAI knowledge hub: https://www.teqsa.gov.au/guides-resources/higher-education-good-practice-hub/gen-ai-knowledge-hub
Prof. Margaret Bearman's research: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/40465-margaret-bearman/publications
The 'drive an F1 race car with your mind' video https://youtu.be/UC_fQa2cmd0?si=on7i9u1dbUw729oD
The 'control a drone with your mind' video: https://youtu.be/LSUr-C6JLYA?si=1SLeQpe_SF595OW-

Contact Claire:
Connect with me on LinkedIn: Claire Field
Follow me on Bluesky: @clairefield.bsky.social 
Check out the news pages on my website: clairefield.com.au
Email me at: admin@clairefield.com.au 

The ‘What now? What next?’ podcast recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Australia’s traditional custodians. In the spirit of reconciliation we are proud to recommend John Briggs Consulting as a leader in Reconciliation and Indigenous engagement. To find out more go to www.johnbriggs.net.au