CEO, TAFE Director’s Australia

School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University

Sarojni Choy is Professor of Adult and Vocational Education in the School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland Australia. Her research interests are in vocational education and training, connecting learning in different settings, continuing education and training, and workforce capacity building. She has interest in developing novice researchers and continues to supervise higher degree research students.

She has been a member of AVETRA since late 1998 and has also served on the Executive between 2010- 2015. She managed the Community of Practice for novice VET researchers (a program managed under AVETRA). Over these years she was mentored by Prof. Roger Harris and Prof Berwyn Clayton. Prof. Choy took up the co-editor role with Dr Selena Chan at the beginning of 2021. She is also the Associate Editor of the Vocations and Learning journal; Editorial Board for International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning (formally Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education and Australian Journal of Adult Learning); and reviewer on a range of VET journals.

Professor Choy will join other research and academic leaders on a panel session exploring ‘Building VET institutional research capability’.

Dr Stephen Billett is Professor of Adult and Vocational Education in the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia and a National Teaching Fellow and Australian Research Council Future Fellow. After a career in garment manufacturing, he has worked as a vocational educator, educational administrator, teacher educator, professional development practitioner and policy developer in the Australian vocational education system and as a teacher and researcher at Griffith University. He is the founding and Editor in Chief of Vocations and learning: Studies in vocational and professional education (Springer) and lead editor of the book series Professional and practice-based learning (Springer) the International Handbook of Research in Professional and Practice-based Learning (2014) with colleagues from Germany.

Chief Executive Officer, Community Colleges Australia

As the CEO of Community Colleges Australia (CCA), Dr Don Perlgut has worked to strengthen CCA’s research, communications and advocacy activities. Prior to his commencement as CCA CEO in 2015, he worked as the CEO of three other organisations, including the Rural Health Education Foundation and the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC). Don has also worked as Deputy Leader of ASIC’s Community Outreach Program; Executive Officer of The Bright Alliance, UNSW Faculty of Medicine; and a business development manager for both the Australian Institute of Management (NSW/ACT) and a start-up IT company.

As ABC TV Project Manager, Open Learning and Adult Education, Don had responsibility for the ABC’s partnership with Open Learning Australia (now Open Universities Australia) and 15 Australian universities undertaking distance learning. He also supervised the development two ABC TV adult literacy series with NSW TAFE, and received a Commonwealth Literacy Medal for his work during International Literacy Year 1990. Don also developed an AusAID-funded English language teaching series broadcast both in Asia and Australia.

Don has committed much of his professional career to advancing social and economic justice through adult, community and post-secondary education. He was nominated three years in a row – 2019, 2020 and 2021 – for the Pro Bono Australia “Impact 25” social sector awards. He holds a PhD in media/communications from Macquarie University and a Master of City Planning (MCP) from the University of California, Berkeley.

Don will join other VET and tertiary system leaders on a panel session exploring ‘Policy, place and partnership: the interoperable tertiary system’.

Professor Joy Papier is the Director of the Institute for Post-School Studies (IPSS), which was established in September 2013 in the Faculty of Education at UWC. She is also the SARChi (South African National Research Chair) in Post-School Studies: TVET Teaching and Learning. Prof. Papier has been active in vocational education, policy and development for about 25 years, serving on numerous national and international policy forums, think tanks and other initiatives related to the field of vocational education and training. Her research interests include TVET teacher education, TVET policy and development, vocational curricula policy, workplace and institutional cultures. She has served as Co-Chair of the African Union Commission Expert Group on TVET, and is a member of the Consultative Advisory Group on TVET, an Africa-led initiative launched in 2013 with facilitation by the World Bank. Hear from Professor Papier and other researchers on an exciting panel session exploring 'Cross, inter and multi-disciplinary approaches to research in VET' only at AVETRA Conference 2023. 

Professor Papier will join other researchers on an exciting panel session exploring 'Cross, inter and multi-disciplinary approaches to research in VET'.