Ask us Anything Session!

What better way to wrap up your #2026NVC experience?

The final session of the Conference invites you to drive the conversation and help forge your post-NVC future.

Bring your questions, challenges, curly scenarios and topics you would love to explore, then put them directly to our panel of VET experts.

There is no formal presentation and no set agenda. This relaxed, audience-led session is your opportunity to:

• ask the questions that matter to you
• hear different expert perspectives
• learn from the experiences of other delegates
• pick up practical ideas, insights and solutions
• finish the Conference with valuable new connections

Our panel brings expertise across a broad range of areas:

No slides. No speeches. Just an open conversation about the issues that matter most to you.

Stay, ask, share and help us finish the #2026NVC on a high.

Afternoon Tea and Networking

Storytelling for Adult Educators: The one technique no-one is talking about.

Everyone loves a good story, but when it comes to telling one, many people believe they are not great storytellers.

Effective stories have been shown to dramatically improve retention, emotional connection and engagement in the classroom and other settings. Educators can use storytelling to improve retention of facts, enhance emotional buy-in or drive home a key message. Regardless of the reason for telling a story, in education, your stories need to be clear, engaging and drive home a key point or lesson. In this session, Tony will share the two frameworks he uses for curating effective stories.

Specifically, you’ll get a chance to:

• Explore three foundational elements to make a story engaging.
• Identify the additional elements to make your stories relevant, memorable and, importantly, related to your content.

Join this session to build your confidence in using this powerful technique to enhance student learning and engagement.

ASQA's Regulatory Insights

Join ASQA as it shares insights into regulatory trends, tips for compliance and emerging risks identified through its work across the sector. Expect a highly engaging presentation with practical takeaways for the sector.

Assessment Conditions: Getting it right

Assessment conditions are among the most frequently misunderstood—and highest-risk—areas of compliance for RTOs, particularly those delivering VET in Schools programs or using simulated learning environments. This session is designed to build confidence and clarity around what assessment conditions actually require, how to interpret the Implementation and Qualification Companion Guides, and how to apply them effectively in both school-based and private RTO contexts.

Drawing on real validation, moderation, and audit experiences, this session will unpack common misconceptions around “industry environments,” foundation skills, and simulation. Participants will explore practical examples that demonstrate the difference between meaningful simulation and non-compliant substitution, and why relying solely on off-the-shelf resources can place RTOs at risk if assessment conditions are not fully understood or contextualised.

With a strong VET in Schools focus, the session will address real-world challenges such as limited workplace access, low literacy and digital capability among learners, and how to evidence compliance when training occurs outside traditional workplaces. Attendees will be guided through how to use the Companion Guides and unit assessment conditions together to design fit-for-purpose assessment environments that are realistic, defensible, and engaging.

Notice, Ask, Respond: Trust, safety and student wellbeing

Building on the highly rated webinar presented in July 2026, this conference session revisits the practical Notice, Ask, Respond framework for supporting student wellbeing and extends the conversation to explore why trust and safety must sit at the heart of that support.

Drawing on DEWR guidance on student mental health and wellbeing, this session will explore how everyday interactions can build that trust and help RTO staff recognise when something may have changed, begin compassionate conversations and respond appropriately within the boundaries of their role.

Participants will strengthen their understanding of how they contribute to a whole-of-RTO approach to student wellbeing and build greater confidence in supporting students through challenging situations.

RPL Done Right!

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is sometimes viewed as challenging or frustrating by assessors and candidates alike. Mark and I see it differently. If we worked at your RTO, we’d actively ask for the RPL assessments! That’s because we understand how powerful and worthwhile it becomes when the process is streamlined, practical, compliant, and genuinely beneficial for all stakeholders.

This session will illustrate the concerns that many RTOs, their Assessors and, just as importantly, candidates have. It will demonstrate how these concerns can be overcome for all parties; but more importantly, it will highlight the positives that are achievable for both the Assessor and the Candidate and result in compliant and quality outcomes.

The session will be interactive with the audience and:

• Describe, with an example, of what a compliant RPL assessment tool needs to contain to assure all stakeholders are represented in its design and function.
• Discuss how a ‘unit by unit’ or ‘cluster of units’ assessment approach for different cohorts will work.
• Detail what a Training and Assessment Strategy for a training product that is just used for RPL will need to contain.
• Illustrate determining how to proceed when ‘gaps’ in evidence are found.
• Demonstrate, through a practical demonstration how the RPL assessment is implemented and recorded.
• Illustrate the skills that RPL Assessors need to have to effectively conduct an RPL process.
• Describe what evidence we need to retain.
• Demonstrate how to record evidence so that there is no doubt about how the assessor’s judgement was made against the training product.
• The evidence that needs to be retained to satisfy the Standards.
• Key points that ASQA look for during an audit of RPL practices.

The POWER Framework: A practical starting point for inclusive learning design

Under the 2025 Outcome Standards, inclusive and supportive learning is no longer just best practice; it is now a requirement. Standards 2.3 to 2.6 make it a compliance expectation - RTOs are now accountable for training support, diversity and inclusion, and learner wellbeing. The question is no longer whether to design inclusively; it is how.

And yet, here's what we hear from educators all the time: "I know it matters. I just don't know where to start."

That's the real barrier. It is not motivation or values. It's the overwhelming feeling that doing this well will mean more work on an already full plate.

The POWER Framework was built for exactly this. It's an evidence-based model that gives you a clear, practical starting point, without requiring you to rework everything from scratch. In this immersive, co-designed workshop, you'll apply the framework directly to your own context, identify small intentional shifts you can make, and leave with a concrete set of next steps you can act on immediately.

Inclusive design doesn't have to feel hard. It just needs intention and a place to start.

Beyond Compliance: The risk blueprint every RTO needs to lift quality and performance

This session explores how RTOs can embed a practical, evidence-driven risk framework into their operations to strengthen training quality, assessment integrity, and learner outcomes.

Using the Outcome Standards of the 2025 RTO Standards as the foundation, the session demonstrates how risk identification, prioritisation, and targeted resourcing can transform compliance from a reactive burden into a strategic advantage. Participants will walk away with a clear model, practical tools, and a roadmap for implementing a sustainable risk-based approach across qualifications, cohorts, delivery modes, and organisational systems. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Understand the role of risk in achieving the Outcome Standards under the 2025 RTO Standards
• Identify key risk indicators across qualifications, learners, delivery models, performance trends, and compliance systems
• Apply a practical risk matrix to prioritise high-risk areas
• Allocate resources strategically to improve training quality and learner outcomes
• Use risk data to strengthen governance, validation, and continuous improvement
• Implement a sustainable, organisation-wide risk framework that supports job-ready graduates and industry confidence

Creating Sustainable, Innovative, and Engaging Learning Resources with GenAI Tools

This session explores how integrated learning content, particularly music and audio integrated with textual and visual activities, can enhance education experiences by enabling customised, scaffolded learning resources that engage and motivate learners. Drawing on Vygotsky’s sociocultural constructivism (1978), the TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2010), and the AI Assessment Scale (Perkins et al., 2024) the workshop guides participants to appreciate how using generative AI tools to create learning resources can sustainably transform the learning experience, promote innovation, and encourage learner engagement.

Initially an ISS Institute Fellow and now a PhD candidate, the researcher identified six key factors for using generative AI effectively in VET curriculum and resource development: (1) collaborative human-AI teams, (2) strategic selection and use of generative AI tools, (3) embedding critical thinking and AI literacy in learning design, (4) alignment with vocational education and training (VET) principles, (5) efficient document management workflows, and (6) rigorous ethical governance.  

This session provides an overview of the six-factor framework above, followed by a hands-on opportunity to discover how discipline-specific educational music and supporting resources can be created to produce high-quality, engaging, and motivating learning resources. Every participant will create one (or more) digital artefacts to take away so, BYOD!

Unlocking Innovation: Strategies for you and your students

Explore practical strategies for unlocking the innovative and creative potential within yourself and your students. Discover how you can find new ways to look at everyday situations, challenge assumptions, question the way ‘things have always been done’, see with fresh eyes and explore different perspectives. Leave this warm, interactive, and highly engaging session with a full toolkit of ideas from the world’s best and most innovative thinkers. An experiential and thought-provoking session that will leave you inspired to think differently and find opportunities in unexpected places. Share ideas and discover what other organisations are already doing.

The fourth industrial revolution has reached its inflection point. In history, inflection points are the points at which organisations change how they operate and thrive, or they start to decline. Where we’re going is not where we’ve been, and what got us here may no longer get us there. It is an exciting time to be an educator and a fabulous time to set our students up with the mindsets they will need in the future for success.

10X Your Learners' Journey

This session will share key techniques for vastly improving the CX/LX (customer and learner experiences) through a set of specific, defined processes. Whether the student is studying online, in a blended format or in a classroom, mapping the experience and generating the most effective outcomes from each touchpoint can significantly improve their engagement and long-term performance.

We will be determining quality measures, organisational and individual KPIs, and what students really think of your current systems and processes - from enrolment, the learning journey, and graduation - through to post-completion evaluation.

Attendees will take away a reinvigorated mindset towards the concept of learner-centric vocational education. Teachings from fields such as hospitality, psychology, retail, and more will be broken down into actionable steps that can yield immediate benefits for their RTO or learning organisation.

Lunch and Networking

Forged in Fire: Building trust in AI-generated VET content

AI is already in your workplace. Educators are using it to write resources, plan sessions, and develop assessments. And why wouldn't they? These tools are impressive. The question is whether impressive is the same as trustworthy. But should you trust it? Isn’t trust something that has to be earned and then stress tested, like steel?

This session introduces a practical method for building genuine, verifiable trust in AI-generated content. The method is simple, the results are surprising. And it ends somewhere you might not expect- right inside a tool your institution already approves.

Come ready to rethink how you work with AI. You won't go back.

Participants will leave with:

• A clear understanding of why single-platform AI use creates hidden risk
•  First-hand experience of how different AI platforms have different failure modes
• A renewed framework for critical thinking, because the best thing AI can teach you is not to trust it unconditionally
• A practical, repeatable workflow they can implement immediately
• Confidence to use AI tools, including institutionally approved platforms, with professional judgement rather than blind faith.

This session suits anyone considering using, or already using AI in their practice, who suspects there might be a better way.

Shaping the Future of VET Data

Tying together major initiatives under the National Skills Agreement - VET Data Streamlining, The VET Reform Blueprint and Investment Roadmap, and the VET Cyber Security initiative - DEWR are looking to update the sector on how these projects work together to empower the VET Sector to be more responsive, more forward-looking and safer with respect to data. The presentation will bring home the power of VET data to help RTOs stay ahead of the curve as modern economies shift and disrupt at a higher velocity. At the same time, reforms in legislation, processes and digital capability will empower RTOs to harness data as decision-ready intelligence while simultaneously shifting data collection to leading indicators that will provide governments with the information they need to direct policy and investment in priority areas much earlier.

The session will update the sector on the progress of these initiatives: VET Data Streamlining will have launched to its first cohort of users, and we will have real-time feedback to share on the transition journey all RTOs will undertake in the coming years. The Cyber Security Project will have released a strategy and practical resources for RTOs seeking to operate efficiently and safely with sensitive student data. The Blueprint and Investment Roadmap will have delivered its primary findings and actions to address inefficiencies with VET in Schools, Apprenticeship and Traineeship and VET Funding data collections.

The presentation will provide a substantial update essential to every RTO in the country and show, using tangible examples, exactly how RTOs can leverage this work to improve business outcomes. By the end of the session, RTOs will know how to transition, how to set themselves up for success, and how we are all working together to keep the VET sector at the forefront of skills development.

Are You an RTO Outlaw? (2)

Following the overwhelming success of the first "Are You an RTO Outlaw?” session at the 2025 NVC, Angela McGregor and Peter Doukas are back - this time with a new set of questions and cases, in an interactive, question-and-answer style discussion.

In this sequel session, Angela and Peter unpack the real-world questions that arise from everyday actions—and inaction - within RTOs. From compliance shortcuts to misunderstood obligations, from governance gaps to leadership decisions.

Join this lively, candid, and practical conversation as they shine a light on the patterns they see across the sector, challenge assumptions, and answer questions many of us have wondered about but not known who to ask. Whether you’re a leader, compliance specialist, trainer/assessor or administrator, the session will have something for you.

Join the session and find out if you are an RTO outlaw without even realising it.

FSO Skills Accelerator - AI: Building Confidence and Capability in VET

Across the VET sector, educators and leaders are facing the same challenge: not why to use AI, but where to start and how to scale responsibly. The AI Skills Accelerator is a national collaboration initiative that provides a structured entry point for RTOs seeking to build capability, strengthen governance, and adopt AI tools in a safe, ethical and sustainable way.

This session explores how the Accelerator is supporting the system to upskill tens of thousands of VET professionals and their learners, enabling RTOs to optimise their practices using AI. The focus is on relevant, repeatable approaches that strengthen AI confidence and lift quality across teaching, learning, student support and organisational operations.

The program’s three pillars—Knowledge Share, Action Learning Sprints, and What Works & Why—will be unpacked to show how evidence, experimentation and shared practice combine to accelerate responsible adoption and upskilling.

With contributions from hundreds of partners across industry, VET and government, the Accelerator acts as a system-wide learning engine: testing solutions, identifying what works, and making high‑quality resources openly available through the national Resource Hub. The session will also introduce upcoming sprints, collaboration opportunities and pathways for RTOs to share emerging practice.

Attendees will gain insight into the conditions that enable safe, scalable AI adoption within VET; understand the models the Accelerator uses to support AI capability uplift; and leave with access to free and practical frameworks and tools that can be applied across a range of organisational roles and settings.

Building Safe, Inclusive and Gender-Equitable VET Classrooms

VET practitioners are working in increasingly complex environments, balancing regulatory compliance, workforce shortages, increasingly diverse learner cohorts, and rising expectations around inclusion and wellbeing. While policies and frameworks are in place, many educators find it challenging to translate these into practical and sustainable classroom practice. This session explores how VET educators and leaders can move beyond compliance-driven approaches to intentionally build psychologically safe and gender-equitable learning environments that enhance both student engagement and educator sustainability.

Drawing on my role as a Senior Educator in Community Services and Mental Health, as well as insights from my 2025 ISSI Fellowship on international best practice in gender equity in vocational education, this session presents a practical and implementable framework tailored to VET contexts. It addresses the ongoing challenge of balancing student-centred pedagogy, while also responding to increasingly complex learner needs in a way that maintains safe and supportive learning environments. The session also explores how gendered participation patterns and unconscious bias can influence training contexts, and how educators can actively work to address these, while also supporting their own wellbeing as they lead inclusive change.

Participants will leave with a clear, practical framework for embedding psychological safety into everyday teaching practice, along with strategies to foster inclusive and gender-equitable classroom cultures.

First Nations Cultural Awareness Journey

This session invites participants to begin or continue their journey in building a stronger understanding of First Nations cultural awareness.

Presented by Jillian from Nomuckerlener Indigenous Consulting and Mentoring, the session will explore both past and present issues that have shaped the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures, and communities. It will consider the ongoing impact of past policies and practices, while supporting participants to reflect on how this understanding can inform more respectful and culturally sensitive communication.

Designed as a foundational session, it will offer practical insights for those seeking to build confidence, awareness, and understanding when working with First Nations colleagues, students, clients, and communities.

Demonstrating Competence: Strengthening evidence, judgement and traceability with open data standards

RTOs are required not only to record assessment outcomes, but to demonstrate how competence was determined. In practice, many organisations rely heavily on completion reports, uploaded files and free-text assessor notes. While efficient administratively, these approaches can make it difficult to clearly trace the pathway from evidence to assessor judgement during validation and audit.

This session explores the practical difference between recording an outcome and demonstrating the evidentiary basis for competence. Participants will examine:

• common weaknesses in assessment documentation that create hidden compliance risk
• where evidence, performance criteria and assessor judgement are not clearly connected across systems
• the growing complexity of traceability in multi-platform digital environments.

As AI tools begin to appear in assessment workflows, the quality of underlying data becomes critical. AI does not fix weak data; it amplifies it. If assessment evidence is fragmented or poorly structured, automation will scale those weaknesses rather than improve quality. Drawing on real-world digital assessment design, this session explores how stronger evidence collection and open data standards, such as xAPI can improve traceability, support validation, and strengthen audit confidence across multiple systems. This is not a technical deep dive. It is a practical governance conversation about improving assessment data quality now while preparing for a more connected, AI-aware future.

Participants will leave with:

• a clearer understanding of the pathway to competence
• practical questions to review how competence is demonstrated across systems
• examples of structured digital evidence gathering in multi-platform environments
• an introduction to how xAPI can support more traceable assessment records.

Beyond the Void: Engaging live online learners with purpose

We’ve all been there. You ask a brilliant question, wait for a response, and are met with a wall of black boxes and deafening silence. It’s the live online trainer’s dread: Are they even there?

Whether you are a veteran facilitator transitioning your classroom magic to the screen, a training manager supporting a team, or a newcomer building your toolkit from scratch, this workshop-style session will equip you with strategies you can use straight away to engage learners in purposeful live online learning.

We will start by acknowledging that engagement isn’t just about staying busy – it’s about removing the barriers that stop adult learners from leaning in.

Join us to turn those black boxes back into a vibrant, purposeful learning community.

A Strong Team Forges Through Fire and Creates Something Memorable

Diamonds are formed under extreme heat and pressure. These valuable, rare and unique gems are the result of many things coming together under just the right conditions.

Similarly, the hospitality industry operates in a hot, humid, high-pressure environment. This is where great people come together, work as a team, and have the power to create memorable experiences for customers, staff, and the organisation. This strong sense of teamwork, camaraderie and trust in one another builds resilience, friendships, respect and a great culture.

This interactive session will explore lessons learnt from the kitchen, classroom and education, on how to create successful teams. I will share stories, challenges and learnings, enhanced by hands-on team building activities that you can take away and apply within your organisation.

We will explore how mentorship and succession planning can help a team grow. Also, I will share some of the key skills a leader needs to contribute to the team.

The advantages of investing in team building will be shared, including benefits to the student journey, relationships with stakeholders, and employee retention.

I have also seen some of the challenges that can impact a team's success, such as team dynamics, time pressures, and a lack of resources. Throughout these experiences, lessons have been learnt and we will explore how to overcome these challenges.

Join me for this interactive, collaborative session to learn how to build a strong team within your organisation and reap the benefits I have seen.

These teams can bring so much value and can forge a positive future for all.

Mastering Difficult Conversations: Creating constructive outcomes

In today's fast-paced professional environment, navigating challenging conversations with confidence and empathy is a vital skill. This workshop delves into proven strategies and techniques to transform difficult discussions into opportunities for connection, collaboration, and resolution. By exploring the science of communication and emotional intelligence, participants will gain the tools to handle conflict constructively, foster understanding, and achieve positive outcomes for all involved.

Expect a dynamic session that blends practical activities, real-life scenarios, and reflective exercises. Whether you're addressing performance concerns, managing team dynamics, or resolving workplace disputes, this workshop will equip you to speak up with clarity and kindness while maintaining strong professional relationships.

The ultimate goal. To empower you with skills that resolve issues and build trust, drive performance, and create a positive workplace culture.

By the end of this session, participants will:

• Understand how stress impacts communication and decision-making and develop strategies to remain composed during challenging discussions.
• Learn to use affective statements, 'I' language, and empathetic approaches to create safe and productive conversations.
• Replace harsh or critical language with constructive, solution-focused dialogue that encourages positive behavioural change.
• Determine the right time, place, and tone to maximise the effectiveness of difficult discussions.

This session is designed to solve common workplace challenges, equipping you with tools to create lasting change and build a culture where conversations become opportunities for growth, not conflict.

Morning Tea and Networking

Motivational Speaker - The Future of Human Connection

In this ever-changing world we need to develop better ways to connect, communicate and collaborate.

We exist in an age where new exponential technologies are transforming how we live, work and play. Undeniably the evolution of digital technologies is mind- blowing, yet counterintuitively, the fundamental shift is in human connection.

This plenary session will be an inspiring keynote exploring why human connection will be critical to building trust, strengthening relationships, and shaping the future of VET.

Welcome to Day 2

Arrival at Venue (Registration)

Welcome Function

ASQA Update

Afternoon Tea and Networking

Industry as Strategy: A case study in RTO leadership and growth

Industry leadership in vocational education is defined by relevance, trust and the ability to evolve alongside workforce needs. In increasingly competitive training markets, RTOs that achieve sustained growth do so by embedding industry influence into the heart of organisational decision-making.

This session presents a case study of Asset College’s Employer Connections® program and how an innovative approach to industry engagement became central to building an industry-leading RTO. Employer Connections® is a structured engagement framework that positions employers as ongoing contributors to strategic direction, training relevance and quality outcomes, shaping decisions across the organisation.

The presentation explores how Employer Connections® supported Asset College’s growth by strengthening employer trust, enhancing training alignment with real operational environments, and reinforcing the organisation’s reputation for quality. It demonstrates how innovative engagement can move beyond transactional interaction to become a strategic asset that differentiates an RTO in a crowded market.

Through a leadership lens, the session examines the organisational conditions that enable Employer Connections® to deliver impact, including clarity of purpose, governance alignment and cultural commitment. It highlights how intentional investment in employer engagement supports informed decision-making, organisational maturity and long-term sustainability.

This session is designed for RTO leaders and managers seeking to understand how innovative, purposeful engagement with industry can position their organisation as a trusted and recognised industry leader.

A Risk Based Approach to Authentic Assessment in the VET Sector

The rapid emergence of generative AI has fundamentally altered the assessment landscape in vocational education and training. This shift challenges long established assumptions about authorship, integrity and the evidentiary value of traditional assessment methods.

TAFE SA shares its development of a Risk Based Assessment Methodologies Framework, a structured model designed to evaluate the vulnerability of assessment types to AI misuse, whilst providing recommended solutions to strengthen the authenticity of the evidence produced.

The framework draws on five critical design factors: Task Type, Context, Conditions, Output and Follow up. Each factor is weighted equally to provide a balanced analysis of how an assessment promotes genuine learner performance and how susceptible it is to substitution, outsourcing or automated generation. When applied across 22 common VET assessment methods, the model reveals consistent patterns.

Instead of relying on increased supervision or restrictive practices, the framework emphasises targeted, high impact mitigation strategies that enhance authenticity while maintaining flexibility.

This session will introduce the framework, outline its evidence base and discuss its implications for contemporary VET assessment design. It offers RTOs a practical and adaptable method for understanding assessment vulnerability and strengthening the authenticity and defensibility of competency-based evidence.

Beyond the Shortage: Practical and strategic pathways for strengthening the VET workforce

As part of a nationwide coordinated project, Industry Skills Australia (ISA) delivered a targeted initiative focused on building and maintaining a high-quality and sustainable national VET workforce servicing the Transport Supply Chain (TSC) industries.

The project aimed to strengthen workforce capacity and sustainability by improving understanding of industry-specific VET roles and addressing workforce challenges through RTO-led solutions.

Following a clearly articulated process, ISA investigated this cohort and its challenges, before validating the key issues identified through consultation and feedback. This informed the development of practical, RTO-led solutions and initiatives including the Trainer ToolBox, ADF Instructor Recognition and Training Package Implementation Support.

This session will explore what ISA uncovered through the project, and how these findings were translated into practical initiatives to support trainer and assessor capability, currency, and workforce sustainability.

From Classroom to Career: Leading best practice in school-based VET

This session is designed for educators and trainers working in the VET-in-schools space who want to elevate their programs and student outcomes. It will explore proven strategies for designing, delivering, and assessing school-based VET programs that are engaging, industry-aligned, and compliant with RTO requirements. It will share insights that bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world career readiness.

Attendees will explore the key challenges faced in school-based VET, including balancing curriculum demands, engaging diverse learners, and navigating compliance obligations. Through practical, real-world examples, participants will discover innovative delivery models, effective student engagement strategies, and approaches to embedding industry relevance into every lesson. There will also be discussion of tools and frameworks that support teachers in delivering high-quality programs while maintaining confidence in assessment and compliance processes.

The session will highlight how to inspire students, build their practical skills, and prepare them for meaningful career pathways. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies they can implement immediately, from enhancing lesson design and student engagement to strengthening assessment practices and aligning programs with industry expectations.

This session is ideal for VET teachers, trainers, and school leaders who want to lead best practice in school-based VET, support students to achieve their full potential, and create programs and pathways that are both academically rigorous and practically relevant.  Participants will gain both the knowledge and confidence to transform their teaching practice and drive lasting impact in their classrooms.

The Classroom You Create is the Classroom You Have

What makes one class feel incredible to teach, while another slowly drains your energy and students quietly stop attending?

The content is the same. The qualification is the same. Yet one group is enthusiastic, asks questions, and interacts, while another resists, disengages, and requires constant effort just to keep things moving. This session explores how to intentionally create the conditions for a “good class”.

Rather than focusing on performance, delivery tricks, or attention‑grabbing hooks, this session looks at how framing, rapport, and educator intent shape the learning environment over time. It focuses on the conditions students experience and interpret - conditions that strongly influence motivation, behaviour, and persistence, particularly for neurodivergent learners and students who arrive with low trust in education.

Many educators begin the first session by leading with procedures, WHS, rules, or dense instructions. While well‑intentioned, the unintended message is often: comply first, connect later. For learners who struggle with regulation, authority, or confidence, this can quietly reduce rapport and create resistance that is difficult to undo.

Attendees will explore:

• the imbalance of power educators hold and how it impacts trust, engagement, and retention
• how framing expectations influences motivation and cooperation
• why assuming positive intent produces positive outcomes
• how educator energy sets the emotional tone students respond to
• how rapport is built and its link to successful student outcomes
• how vocal archetypes signal safety, authority, or threat

This session demonstrates how applying these approaches in real world classrooms has shifted student engagement and increased completion rates from approximately 40% to over 95%, without lowering standards or increasing workload.

Creating Safe and Supported Trainer and Assessor Workforces in Mining and Automotive VET

Trust in the VET system is built on the strength, wellbeing and capability of its trainers and assessors. As the mining and automotive industries continue to change, supporting the people who deliver training is essential to ensuring quality, confidence and long-term workforce sustainability.

This session presents key insights from the Mining and Automotive Skills Alliance's (AUSMASA) national project on trainer and assessor wellbeing and support. The project drew on extensive consultations across all states and territories with RTO leaders, trainers and assessors at different career stages and DEI and education specialists. The findings highlight the conditions that help trainers and assessors feel safe, capable and supported, along with practical approaches that contribute to a more trusted and sustainable VET workforce.

The session will begin with AUSMASA introducing the VET Workforce Blueprint project and its purpose. This will be followed by Julie van Belkom (Harlow Education Consulting) presenting the findings and sector insights. The session will conclude with an interactive Q&A, with both AUSMASA and Julie available to respond to participant questions.

Key takeaways:

• The national landscape, including emerging themes about trainer and assessor wellbeing and organisational support
• Career stage insights and what trainers and assessors need to feel confident and capable across all career stages
• Practical approaches RTOs can adapt, including mentoring structures, inclusion strategies and organisational supports
• Promising practices observed across public, private and enterprise RTOs that contribute to attraction, retention and wellbeing
• How strengthening wellbeing, inclusion and cultural safety supports a trusted and sustainable VET workforce

This session provides insights and practical guidance that RTOs can use to support trainers and assessors and contribute to a trusted future for the VET sector.

Insights From Recent Audits Against the 2025 Standards

During this session, Angela draws on first‑hand experiences from initial registration, renewal and monitoring audits. The session will cover the most common non‑compliances, areas of greatest concern, and the systemic issues that continue to impact audit outcomes.

Participants will gain a clear understanding of current audit practices, including the focus on risk‑based approaches, learner‑centred practices, and the audit experience. Angela will provide guidance to strengthen your internal monitoring systems and self‑assurance practices, and to help you prepare for your next audit.

The Underestimated Role of Self-Care in Leadership and Top Performance

In this session, our speaker Angie Ford shares often-missed links between self-care and effective, sustainable leadership.

With RTO leaders juggling regulatory change, compliance risk, and the pressure to deliver quality outcomes, many “good-hearted” leaders are running on empty in ways that traditional time management or resilience tips do not address.

In this interactive session, Angie will share:

• One self-care decision that changes the game on performance and peace in leadership - even in high compliance environments.
• A type of fatigue that doesn’t go away with rest, often experienced by highly empathetic leaders, and how to prevent it.
• Three common mistakes that swallow time and mental bandwidth, and how RTO leaders can safely increase capacity for continuous improvement, relationship building and partnerships.

Angie’s keynotes are known for being engaging, reflective, and evidence-based. She inspires audiences to move beyond quick fixes and identify the deeper levers that move the dial.

 Come along to gain a new take on leadership through the lens of the nervous system. Walk away with fresh insights and language to support you beyond the session.

GROW - Great Resources On [the] Web

"Your classes are so different now", a student complimented a trainer after having attended one of the GROW sessions.

Great Resources on the Web is a practical introduction to simple and effective websites for teachers to use in their program development and classes. Everyone likes something free, right? This session is all about FREE stuff!

Not only will you be introduced to dozens of websites for engaging students and creating visual learning content, but you will also have the ability to share website nuggets with your fellow-freebie-fossickers. This session has been delivered to over a thousand vocational educators and receives high praise. 

The content (websites) is constantly being updated, and you are guaranteed to find websites that will support your class preparation.

Supporting Neurodivergent Learners: Strengthening trust, inclusion and outcomes across VET

Supporting neurodivergent learners within the VET sector is essential as more students with diverse cognitive profiles engage in TAFE and vocational programs. Neurodivergent learners, including those with ADHD, autism, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and other cognitive differences, bring valuable strengths, creativity and problem-solving capacities to vocational pathways. Yet they also face distinctive challenges in fast-paced competency-based learning environments. This session draws on recent work delivered to TAFE learners and trainers to highlight practical neuroaffirming approaches that build resilient, psychologically safe and inclusive training ecosystems.

Participants will explore the common experiences of neurodivergent learners in VET, including overwhelming cognitive load, co-occurring conditions and the mental health pressures that influence engagement and achievement. Grounded in strengths-based and evidence-informed professional learning programs, the session focuses on helping educators develop a deeper understanding of neurodivergent learning needs and the conditions that support student success across classroom and workplace training contexts.

Aligned with the conference theme, Forging a Trusted Future, this presentation emphasises trust, ethical practice, transparency and collaboration. Educators will gain increased confidence in creating psychologically safe learning environments where students feel seen, respected and empowered to communicate their needs and participate fully in their training.

Lunch and Networking

Making PD Stick: Turn conference overwhelm into achievable action plans

Ever noticed how conferences are a breeding ground for good intentions? You attend brilliant sessions, take notes, feel inspired … but somehow those insights don’t quite make it back into your practice.

After last year's quick-bite session on this topic received overwhelming requests for more, we’re giving you an extended 90-minute interactive workshop.

You’ll walk away with practical, research-backed strategies that you’ll start using immediately. It’s the perfect way to kick off the conference.

This isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about making sure the PD you engage with actually impacts your practice. Come ready to transform how you approach every other session at this conference (and every professional learning opportunity going forward).

AI & Future Skills: Success criteria for education & the VET sector 2026-30

As Artificial Intelligence rapidly reshapes industries, the Australian Education and VET sector faces a defining moment: how do we ensure learners are equipped with the right capabilities for an AI-enabled workforce? This session, led by Rashan Senanayake, one of Australia’s most trusted AI and future skills professionals, explores the practical success criteria required for meaningful, ethical and industry-aligned AI integration across VET.

With extensive experience working alongside government, universities, schools, and industry partners, this session brings a strategic yet practical perspective to AI capability building for Australia's education and VET sector. This seminar will move beyond theory to provide clear frameworks for embedding AI literacy, prompt and context engineering, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and human-centred design into training and assessment practices.

Aligned to national VET priorities and regulatory expectations, participants will explore:

1. How AI is reshaping workforce capability standards
2. Practical strategies for integrating AI into delivery and assessment while maintaining compliance
3.  Risk mitigation considerations including academic integrity, bias, and data security
4. Professional development pathways for trainers and assessors
5. Organisational readiness models for sustainable AI adoption

Attendees will gain actionable insights to strengthen learner outcomes, industry relevance, and institutional resilience. This session is designed for RTO leaders, compliance managers, trainers and policymakers seeking clarity in a rapidly evolving landscape. Participants will leave with practical tools and a future-focused roadmap to ensure AI enhances quality training delivery—positioning their organisation, and their learners, for long-term success in Australia’s changing skills economy.

The VETiS Partnership Playbook: Third‑Party delivery, shared responsibility & audit‑ready agreements

VET in Schools Programs rely on complex partnerships between schools, RTOs and workplaces - and it is these partnerships, rather than teaching practice, that most often expose providers to risk.  

This session unpacks the most common VETiS delivery and third-party models used nationally, clarifies responsibility lines, and explores how to build partnership arrangements that are clear, defensible and audit-ready.  

Drawing on system-level experience and a regulatory lens, participants will gain practical tools to evaluate existing partnerships, avoid common pitfalls, and strengthen governance across diverse delivery contexts without needing to navigate state-by-state policy detail.

Teaching with Working Memory in Mind: Cognitive Load Theory and its implications for educators.

Before we can truly engage our learners, we must first ensure we are not using educational practices that promote disengagement. Enter Cognitive Load Theory…

Described by leading British educationalist Dylan Wiliam as ‘the single most important thing for teachers to know’, Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) explores ways in which educators can manage the limitations of working memory and facilitate more engaging and effective learning experiences.

"No other single theory, technique or approach has been of more use in my training career than Cognitive Load Theory. I use its principles every single time I design or deliver training." (Tony Kirton)

Supported by an evidence base spanning more than 30 years, CLT outlines principles for education design and delivery. Going beyond theory, CLT provides strategies for designing and delivering instruction with a strong evidence base. Together, we’ll explore the foundations of CLT, why it is such an important concept, and strategies you can use to apply it in practice. By the end of this session, it is expected that you will be able to:  

1. Explain CLT and its relationship to managing working memory limitations.
2.  Identify and explain the three types of cognitive load and what to do about them.
3.  Apply several teaching and design principles to eliminate, reduce and manage the various types of information that induce cognitive load.

Be sure to bring an internet-connected device to participate in the live polls and Q&A.  

Creating a Culture of Psychological Bravery and Trust

It all starts with trust. Without trust, your team won’t speak up. Without being heard, they won’t fully commit. Without full commitment, they won’t hold themselves and others to account. Without being held to account, we won’t achieve results.

Trust and psychological bravery are part of culture, and culture is never fixed. It takes conscious, regular action and energy from leadership. In this session, we explore what Leaders can do to build and maintain a culture of trust and bravery.  What can we do to increase the likelihood that our team is having the conversations we need to be having?

We'll also look at simple tools and techniques leaders can use to consciously build and maintain trust within a team. This session comes with a Guarantee. If you do the work, you will reap the rewards!

Morning Tea and Networking

4 Interactive Learning Stations: Scaffolded, self directed learning in VET

This highly interactive session immerses participants in four carefully designed learning stations that model how to scaffold and strengthen self-directed learning in VET. Rather than simply hearing about the strategies, you’ll experience each station firsthand - working, thinking and reflecting as a learner.

Each station is purposefully structured with varied resources, task designs, collaboration formats and levels of challenge, demonstrating how intentional design builds independence and capability. Participants will rotate through all four stations, exploring practical approaches that can be immediately adapted across diverse teaching contexts.

The stations target essential learner capabilities, including prioritisation, problem-solving, interpreting and following instructions, and reflective practice - equipping educators with replicable strategies that foster autonomy, accountability and deeper learning.

ASQA's New Provider Portal

ASQA will showcase its new digital channels and the future of provider engagement with the regulator. Discover how these changes will support a simpler, smarter and more efficient experience.

Practical Ways to Use AI to Engage Learners

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping vocational education and training. But how can trainers use AI in practical, meaningful ways to genuinely engage learners?

This interactive session explores field-tested, classroom-ready strategies for integrating AI tools to enhance learner engagement, critical thinking and creativity. Participants will explore how AI can be used to:

• Generate interactive learning activities and scenarios
• Personalise learning experiences
• Generate meaningful feedback
• Improve learner reflection functions
• Streamline resource design and development

Examples from real VET contexts will be used to demonstrate how AI can support learning as well as enhance the learning experience.

Supporting Successful Transitions: The Five Senses of Success

Supporting effective transitions is essential for learner persistence and achievement in the VET sector, where students frequently balance complex work, life, and study demands. Lizzio’s (2006, 2010) Five Senses of Success framework offers a practical, evidence‑informed foundation for strengthening these transitions. The model identifies five key conditions that build student confidence and engagement as they enter and progress through learning environments: Capability, Connectedness, Purpose, Resourcefulness, and Academic Culture.

A strong sense of capability helps learners understand expectations and develop core academic skills, which is closely linked to early academic success and satisfaction. Connectedness, built through supportive relationships with peers, educators, and the training community, further enhances belonging and retention. Research also highlights that a clear sense of purpose is one of the strongest predictors of satisfaction, reduced anxiety, and lower withdrawal rates. For many VET learners, resourcefulness, including time management, problem‑solving, and help‑seeking, is critical for navigating training with increasing independence. Finally, engaging with academic culture helps students understand expectations and see themselves as legitimate members of a learning community, strengthening commitment and completion.

This session introduces VET practitioners to the Five Senses Framework and guides them in applying it to support learners’ transitions into training, throughout their studies, and into employment or further education.

Goldilocks Assessment Design: Not too much, not too little, just right

When assessment tools are not closely enough aligned with the unit of competency, they can easily become too hard, too shallow, too long, or simply off target. In other words, they are not quite right.

This session uses the Goldilocks principle to explore how trainers, assessors, and RTO staff can design assessments that are just right. It will examine common causes of over-assessment and under-assessment, including adding requirements that are not in the training product, assessing at the wrong level of complexity, or choosing methods that do not match the evidence needed. Through a practical approach to unpacking units of competency, the session will show how to identify the right scope, depth, and assessment method for the task being assessed. The focus is on creating an assessment that is practical, targeted, and aligned with the standard set by the training product.

This session will cover:

• The Goldilocks challenge – identifying when assessment is too heavy, too shallow, or simply off-target
• A simple way to unpack units – how to use the ‘Application’ and ‘Performance Criteria’ to find the real workplace task
• Getting the level right – why a unit standard stays the same regardless of the qualification it sits in
• Knowledge that counts – how to decide exactly how much a student needs to know to do the job safely and well
• Choosing the right methods – matching the way you assess to the specific skill or knowledge being checked
• Using AI as a thinking partner – how to use technology to help you pull apart a unit of competency more quickly
• Common design mistakes and how to fix them – practical tips for matching your tasks to the verbs in the unit to keep your assessment on track

Official Open, Housekeeping & Platinum Sponsor Address

Welcome to Country

Arrival at Venue (Registration)