QILT Symposium & NSW Higher Education Summit

Ben Rimmer is the Deputy Secretary, Higher Education, Research and International Group in the Department of Education.

He returned to the Australian Public Service in April 2023 following roles as Associate Secretary in the Victorian Government Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and Chief Executive Officer of Homes Victoria, and before that as Chief Executive Officer of the City of Melbourne.

Ben is a committed and passionate public servant, focused on building strong, capable, diverse and inclusive teams to provide excellent service to Ministers and the government, and through them the Australian community.

His previous roles with the Australian Government include Associate Secretary in the Department of Human Services (now Services Australia) and Deputy Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and for the Victorian Government include leadership roles in the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

He is a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration, a recipient of the James Wolfensohn Public Service Scholarship, and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Ben was a member of the Champions of Change Coalition between 2015 and 2019, spent 2002 working to support Cape York First Nations organisations through a secondment with Jawun, and is Chair of the Australian Youth Orchestra. He holds an MBA from the University of Oxford, and Arts and Law degrees from the University of Melbourne.

Lisa Bolton is Director, QILT Research and Strategy and an educational professional who has been working in the QILT program at the Social Research Centre since January 2015. Lisa has a strong profile in the Higher Education Sector through her work in QILT and having undertaken a comprehensive program of liaison and informational presentations to different stakeholders in the sector.
Over this time Lisa has developed strong, positive relationships with stakeholders in higher education, peak higher education bodies and government departments. Lisa has a comprehensive understanding of many aspects of the tertiary education environment having spent 29 years in the VET and University sector where she undertook a range of roles from teaching, academic management, quality management, strategic planning, organisational research, surveys implementation and analysis and program evaluation.
She has a Masters’ degree in Education (Leadership and Management) and a strong interest in quality and evaluation in higher education.

Professor Richard O'Donovan is an academic in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. His research involves measuring teacher effectiveness, game theoretic analyses of educational interactions, and developing psychometrically robust scales within the Rasch framework. He has been working with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education to investigate and improve the Student Evaluation protocols and tools at Monash for the last three years.

Natalie Nickson is Lead, UNSW Belonging Project. With nearly two decades dedicated to building capacity and increasing engagement within communities, Natalie has spent the last ten years enhancing student experience within the higher education space. At UNSW, she is leading a transformative three-year initiative aimed at strengthening students' connection to the university community and increasing their sense of belonging. Holding a Master's in Family and Systemic Therapy, Natalie brings a holistic and systemic approach to community development. As a speaker and ambassador for Beyond Blue, she is a passionate advocate for mental health awareness and systemic well-being.

Professor Kris Ryan is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Queensland. Kris is responsible for preserving the University's commitment to high-quality teaching and learning, promoting a culture of excellence across the student experience. He leads initiatives aimed at student success and retention, integration of services for students and quality standards.

Prior to his appointment at The University of Queensland, Kris held multiple education leadership roles in student experience, diversity and inclusion, education innovation and education policy. He has published over 80 articles and book chapters with a focus on tertiary education and engineering research. Kris has led multidisciplinary teams to establish and implement the design of innovative learning and teaching spaces within Australia and overseas. He has led the development of multiple education technologies, including a novel eAssessment platform enabling multidisciplinary online assessment. These contributions have been recognised nationally and internationally and include an Australian Financial Review Education Award, the International Architecture MasterPrize™ (AMP) for Educational Buildings, and the International eAssessment award for summative assessment.

Professor Kris Ryan holds a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (2009), Doctor of Philosophy (2005), and a Bachelor of Engineering (2000) from Monash University.

Professor Merlin Crossley is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Quality) at UNSW and Professor of Molecular Biology. He has also worked or studied at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Harvard and Sydney. He has been recognised by numerous awards, including a Rhodes Scholarship and the Australian Academy of Science's Gottschalk Medal. He has made significant contributions to academic administration, serving as Dean at UNSW since 2010, and previously as Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research at the University of Sydney from 2006 to 2008. Learn more about Merlin.

Sarah Bendall is the First Assistant Ombudsman at National Student Ombudsman (NSO).

I loved my time at university and want to ensure that all students can realise the amazingly transformative potential of higher education, for themselves and for our community.

I’m a lawyer by trade, but alongside practicing as a lawyer I have always worked in roles involving dispute resolution. I’ve led dispute resolution teams, large and small, in areas ranging from sexual harassment, discrimination, consumer law, telecommunications, domestic building, child protection, public housing and health services.

Over the last 25 years, I’ve seen first-hand how powerful it can be for people to participate in processes to resolve their conflict. I think we sometimes don’t realise the impact that unresolved conflict can have on our health and wellbeing.

The NSO is a dispute resolution service set up specifically for students and Australian higher education providers. We are committed to facilitating trauma informed dispute resolution services and amplifying students voices to encourage continual improvement in the student experience across the higher education sector.

Dispute resolution is a powerful way to change systems and processes for the better. When one person has the courage to complain about something, it can result in improvements that prevent others from experiencing the same issue.

Through the NSO, I want to see tangible improvements in student experience for all students across the higher education sector.

Chi Baik is a Professor of Higher Education in the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education. Her research explores factors influencing the educational experiences and outcomes of students from diverse backgrounds in higher education. She has led major funded studies that have contributed to informing institutional policies and practices including national projects on the first year experience, international student engagement and student mental wellbeing. She is currently leading an interdisciplinary Australian Research Council Discovery project investigating alterable factors that impact student mental health and wellbeing in Australia's universities. 

Julie Hulme is Professor of Psychology Education in the School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), UK. 

Sarah O’Shea is a Professor and a nationally awarded educator, and a globally respected authority on higher education equity. Currently serving as Distinguished Professor and Dean at Charles Sturt University, Sarah brings over three decades of leadership in advancing equity, access, and student success across the sector. Sarah also leads the Higher Education Equity Research Unit (HEERU) at Charles Sturt University and current research projects relate to inclusive teaching practices, student belonging and also, the experiences of first-in-family learners from rural backgrounds. 

Gary Velan is a nationally award-winning medical educator. He is the Associate Dean (Education) at UNSW Medicine & Health and was formerly the Co-Director of the UNSW Scientia Education Academy. Gary pioneered online formative assessments at UNSW and partners with students to establish and lead Student Wellbeing Action Groups (SWAGs). His research focuses on educational innovations, including Web-based assessments, virtual microscopy adaptive tutorials, concept and knowledge maps, and their impact on learning outcomes in medical education. Learn more about Gary.

Belle Lim is a diversity and inclusion consultant, advocate, and speaker. She is an Associate Director at MindTribes, a DEI consulting firm specialising in intersectionality (race, culture and gender), particularly in the Higher Education and Health sectors. Belle is a member of the Victorian Gender Equality Strategy 'Our Equal State' Reference group, Welcoming Universities Advisory Committee, Scanlon Foundation Grants Committee, and Museum Victoria Inclusion Working Group. 
  
In 2018, Belle founded Future Forte, a charity non-profit for international students on gender equity and inclusion, where she now serves as the Board Chair. Future Forte has welcomed more than 3,000 women from around the globe, promoting diverse women and youth leadership particularly in the Asia Pacific region. Belle also served as the National President ‘20/21 at the Council of International Students Australia after serving two years as the National Women's Officer. In the role she represented over 550,000 international students in committees, conferences, board meetings, advisory groups and in the media. 
  
Belle obtained a PhD degree at Monash University and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre on the topic of breast cancer genetics in 2022, following receiving a University Medal in 2017. She was a 2023 Fellow with the Schmidt Futures’ International Strategy Forum representing Asia Pacific. She has been recognised as Global Citizen Youth Leader 2024, IEAA Tony Adams Rising Star Award 2024, Asia Society's Asia Game Changer Finalist 2023, and Victorian International Student of the Year in 2019. Belle was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2024. 

Aidan Tharmarajah is a 5th year medical student at UNSW currently serving as Prince of Wales 5th year representative and was UNSW Medical Society Vice President Inclusivity and Co-Chair of the Student Wellbeing Action Group (SWAG) in 2024. As Vice President he advocated for 7 different equity, diversity, and inclusivity portfolios and led initiatives including the Hospital Buddy System, Refugee Health Initiative, and Diversity in Medicine Month. As SWAG Co-chair he coordinated 4 different subgroups aimed at enhancing wellbeing, building communities, enabling successful transitions between years, and supporting students with mental health challenges. He is passionate about enhancing the student experience and fostering a welcoming university environment.

Sarah Maddison is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education & Student Experience) at UNSW. Sarah has worked in Higher Education for 25 years, with 10 years of senior leadership experience, including Department Chair, School Dean, Faculty Executive Dean, Pro-Vice Chancellor, and most recently Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education, Experience & Employability) at Swinburne University of Technology. A champion of innovation in learning and teaching and research-informed practice, Sarah has led her team to win a prestigious Australian government Office of Learning & Teaching Citation and an Open Universities Australia NOVA award for innovation in online learning to build student agency and digital communities. She has been invited to numerous national and international panels on topics including the use of learning analytics to support student retention, learning ecosystems to support borderless education, and pedagogy and learning spaces. Learn more about Sarah.

Patsie Polly (SFHEA) is the Director and Fellow of the UNSW Scientia Education Academy, who is an Education Focussed Academic in the Department of Pathology within the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBMS), Faculty of Medicine & Health, UNSW Sydney. Patsie is recognised nationally as a medical scientist, leading teacher and innovative education researcher. Patsie is a Scientia Education Fellow, Education Focussed Champion and Professor in Pathology, within the School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health. Patsie has infused her extensive medical research experience into the classroom by applying the latest laboratory research practice. Patsie strategically integrates adaptive lessons, ePortfolio pedagogy and collaborative communities of practice to allow her students to learn these career-relevant skills. Her unique method blends virtual and real laboratory experiences to break new ground in engaging her students as researchers. Patsie has led reflective ePortfolio implementation to develop deep learning of teamwork and communication competencies in students, contextualising acquiring these skills for their future as medical researchers and health professionals. Learn more about Patsie.