“The Challenge of Change for Australian Universities” exercised the minds of the nation’s higher education leaders at the Universities Chancellors Council of Australia annual conference in Adelaide last week.

Organised by a committee including two Flinders University representatives – Conference Organising Committee Chair Chancellor Stephen Gerlach and Deputy Chancellor Elizabeth Perry – the event gathered governance leaders from across Australia’s universities to debate the most relevant and transformative issues facing tertiary education today.

University leaders engaged in panel discussions on a number of profound topics including:

• academic freedom on campus
• emerging ethical challenges for universities
• public advocacy for higher education
• the implications of Australia-China relations for overseas students
• implications of the future of work for university workforce’s and curriculum’s
• the goal of increasing university productivity

The National Conference on University Governance commenced in 2001 as a collaboration between Macquarie University and Southern Cross University and is held in different locations each year, with the 2018 event taking place at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The event included keynotes and panel sessions with experts from across Australia, including Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel, and Flinders University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling and Professor John Spoehr.