Available to Advance HE Members only. Designed for the Australasia region.
Higher education in Australasia faces unique challenges – from evolving student needs to new regulatory pressures. Elevate Australasia addresses this by providing regionally-contextualised support designed for your institutional context.
Through our Spotlight Series, you’ll engage with core educational themes like assessment and internationalisation. Our Digital Showcase celebrates local teaching innovations, while our Principal Fellowship Network connects strategic leaders across the region. We’re not just adapting overseas frameworks – we’re translating proven Student Success strategies specifically for the Australasian context, giving you practical tools that align with PSF dimensions and support both your professional growth and student outcomes in our Elevate Pathway
Call for submissions is now closed for our Digital Showcase Publication.
Spotlight sessions and Translating Student Success Framework events are now open for booking, designed to focus on challenges in the Australasia region. They are accessible to all Advance HE Members.
Why join Elevate Australasia?
Align your work with the Professional Standards Framework and gain sector-wide recognition for your teaching excellence.
Connect with educators across technological universities, research-intensive institutions and further education providers.
Learn from diverse teaching practices and discover new approaches to enhance your own educational impact.
Build your professional profile and create opportunities for collaboration and advancement across Australasia.
Project highlights
Spotlight Series
Join two dynamic 90-minute online sessions from April 2025 to May 2025. Share your innovative teaching practices with peers across Australasia, learn from diverse case studies, and gain valuable insights from student perspectives. Sessions are now open for bookings.
Digital Showcase
Curated publication that highlights innovative teaching practices from across the region. The initiative celebrates excellence and provides a platform for educators to share their work with the broader sector.
The Principal Fellowship Network
An exclusive forum created in response to regional demand to connect strategic teaching leaders. The online meeting provides a platform for collaboration with senior colleagues, opportunities to share and learn best practices and network with peers.
Elevate Pathways
Offers three online events focused on translating Advance HE’s Student Success Frameworks into the Australasian context. The sessions use personas and co-designed activities to help participants explore how the frameworks can be applied in their local institutional setting.
Spotlight Events
Spotlight event 1: AI-Enabled Authentic Assessment and Simulation
Took place on 15 April 2026.
Join Advance HE members for this exclusive online session. Explore how generative AI and authentic practices transform student success amid disruption.
Featured Case Studies
Case Study 1: UNSW (School of Chemical Engineering)
This case study will show how AI-enabled course redesign can support authentic assessment at scale through oral evaluations and collaborative teaching design.
Case Study 2: Deakin University
This case study will show how equitable field-based assessment can strengthen practical learning, integrity and student engagement across different study modes.
Case Study 3: Griffith University
This case study will show how AI-powered virtual simulated patients can create scalable, authentic and safe learning experiences for pharmacy students
Speakers
Dr Susan Hall, Senior Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at Griffith University
Associate Professor Kazem Ghabraie, Academic in Civil Engineering at Deakin University
Elevate Pathways
Elevate Pathways offers three online events focused on translating Advance HE’s Student Success Frameworks into the Australasian context. The sessions use personas and co-designed activities to help participants explore how the frameworks can be applied in their local institutional setting.
Join hosts Dr Amy McHugh and Dr Elliott Spaeth and panellists as they discuss how the Framework for Education for Sustainable Development can support course teams to integrate ESD across programmes, help students identify the necessary competencies for sustainable citizenship, and develop comprehensive institutional approaches to create a sustainable learning environment
Using the Framework for Student Engagement through Partnership
This event took place on 12 March 2026.
This session highlighted collaborative work from the University of Sydney, where students and staff came together to co-create a Student Partnership Charter. The first part of the session explored the development of the Charter, reflecting on the co-creation process and the principles that underpin meaningful student–staff partnership.
The second part of the session focused on the impact of this work in practice. Students presented initiatives that have emerged as a result of the Charter, sharing how partnership has shaped projects focused on belonging, assessment design, and inclusive classroom dialogue.
Contributors: Dr Maria Ishkova (SFHEA), Jessica Frawley, Ihan Samaraweera, Abigail Bobkowski, Daniel Park, Hannah Nguyen
Lead Associate – Student Success Frameworks
Dr Amy McHugh
Academic Facilitator at the National Centre for Cultural Competence, University of Sydney
Dr Amy McHugh is an Academic Facilitator at the National Centre for Cultural Competence at the University of Sydney, where she supports subtle but powerful shifts in how people think about culture, identity, and inclusion.
Dr Elliott Spaeth
Senior Consultant in Inclusive Education, Advance HE
Dr Elliott Spaeth is a visionary leader in the field of Inclusive Practice in Higher Education, with a particular focus on empowering staff to create psychologically safe environments for disabled and/or neurodivergent students.
Speakers
Dr Maria Ishkova
Lecturer, University of Sydney
Maria is an education-focused Lecturer in the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School. She spent more than 15 years working in organisational communications including more than 6 years as Chief Communications Officer and board member.
Dr Sarah Barradell
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Allied Health, Swinburne University of Technology
Sarah brings together extensive clinical, educational and leadership experience to shape the future of physiotherapy education. Since joining Swinburne, Sarah has played a central role in launching and recently refreshing the university’s physiotherapy program.
Dr Helen Yang
Associate Dean (Academic Partnerships) at La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University
Helen is a Senior Fellow of both Advance HE and the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), and an advocate for student-centred intercultural learning in international education. She is a recipient of the Advance HE Global Impact Award and a national teaching award for her leadership in transnational education and curriculum innovation.
Dr Susan Hall
Senior Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at Griffith University
Registered pharmacist with a strong commitment to student‑centred, evidence‑based education. Susan holds a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science, a Master of Pharmacy (Honours), and a PhD from Griffith University, and has completed a Graduate Certificate in Health Professional Education, underpinning her scholarly approach to teaching.
Rowan Tuttleby
Senior Project Advisor, La Trobe University
Rowan Tuttleby is a tertiary education professional passionate about the power of international education to expand perspectives and boost employability. She has extensive experience in articulation and dual degree programs, student mobility, and transnational education initiatives.
Brynn Quick
PhD candidate and sessional teacher, Macquarie University
Brynn holds a Master of Applied Linguistics and Master of Research from Macquarie University. She is currently undertaking her PhD candidature and is investigating how language barriers are bridged between patients and staff in Australian healthcare contexts
Kim Ashton
Professional Teaching Fellow, University of Auckland
With over 20 years of experience in tertiary education. Kim holds a Master of Higher Education and a Master of Management, and leads large, diverse Stage I programmes with a strong commitment to inclusion and student success at scale. Kim’s practice focuses on accessible assessment design, culturally responsive pedagogy, and relational leadership, integrating kaupapa Māori principles and support for CALD and first-in-family learners.
Dr Rachel Kasturi
Senior Educational Designer, Curriculum and Educational Design, UNSW
Dr Rachel Kasturi is a Senior Inclusive Educational Designer at the University of New South Wales, leading initiatives to advance inclusive education. She partners with students, academics, and professional teams to embed accessibility, usability, and Universal Design for Learning, focusing on translating inclusive principles into sustainable, system-level change across higher education.
Associate Professor Kazem Ghabraie
Academic in Civil Engineering at Deakin University
Kazem obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s of Engineering degrees from the University of Tehran and his PhD in Civil Engineering from RMIT University in 2009. He began his academic career at the University of Southern Queensland in 2010 before joining Deakin in 2016. Kazem has held key leadership roles, including Course Director for Civil Engineering and Associate Head of School (Teaching and Learning) within the School of Engineering.
Project Timeline
- November 2025 – Call for participation opens – submit your interest and showcase submissions
- 5 March 2026 – Principal Fellowship Network inaugural meeting
- March – May 2026 – Translating Student Success Frameworks webinars
- April – May 2026 – Spotlight series
- June 2026 – Digital Showcase publication launched (TBC)
For an academic in Australasia, Elevate gives you what you have been looking for – practical, regionally-relevant professional development that actually connects to your teaching challenges.
Fiona Whittenbury – Head of Partnerships (Australasia) – Advance HE
You get access to proven Student Success strategies translated for your institution, plus a real community of Principal Fellows who understand the unique pressures you are facing. It’s support that recognises your expertise while helping you grow, with clear pathways that align with PSF dimensions and support your career progression.
