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Professor Mary O ’ Kane . Picture : Luke Bowden / NewsCorp .
Who ’ s who ?
Meet the experts tasked to lead the Accord overhaul .
By Eleanor Campbell
A former NSW chief scientist , an international banking heavyweight and one of the nation ’ s leading Indigenous rights academics will lead the most significant review of Australia ’ s higher education system in over a decade .
Education minister Jason Clare revealed the six-member expert panel responsible for laying down a long-term reform plan for the sector in November .
Scientist and former University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Professor Mary O ’ Kane was named as the leader of set to lead the accord process .
Professor O ’ Kane , who was the first woman to lead an engineering faculty in Australia , previously served as NSW ’ s first chief scientist and engineer in 2018 .
She led the establishment of the world ’ s first database of spoken Australian English during the 1970s and 80s and has chaired the Group of Eight universities and acted as a member of the Australian Research Council .
The inventor of the term ‘ early researcher ’, O ’ Kane has a long history of higher education reform expertise , most notably leading a push to appoint funding grants based on a researcher ’ s potential opportunities , as well as their achievements .
Shemara Wikramanayake . Picture : NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles .
SHEMARA WIKRAMANAYAKE
Macquarie Group Managing Director and CEO Shemara Wikramanayake has been appointed to review the capacity of universities to meet workforce needs . The former lawyer became the first woman to be appointed CEO of Macquarie
Group in late 2018 , and has since led the banking giant to firm its stance on climate change action .
She was ranked 24th in the list of Most Powerful Women in the World by Forbes in 2021 , the same year she became one of Australia ’ s highest-paid CEOs .
The former lawyer was also a member of the Morrison government ’ s University Research Commercialisation Expert Panel .
PROFESSOR LARISSA BEHRENDT
Professor Behrendt is one of Australia ’ s most highly regarded indigenous rights advocates and currently serves as director of research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at UTS .
The award-winning author and filmmaker was the first Indigenous Australian to graduate from Harvard University , and has directed a large portion her work towards Indigenous higher education .
In 2012 , Professor Behrendt chaired the nation ’ s first review looking into the higher education gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians .
Her report found that Indigenous communities should be given “ capacity and empowerment ” to dismantle disproportionate rates of higher education enrolments .
Barney Glover . Picture : NewsWire / Monique Harmer .
Larissa Behrendt . Picture : News Limited .
PROFESSOR BARNEY GLOVER
Western Sydney University vicechancellor professor Barney Glover is the sole active Vice-Chancellor represented on the
Accord expert panel . The NSW Vice Chancellor ’ s Committee chair and mathematician previously served as head of Universities Australia from 2015 to 2017 .
Professor Glover has actively spoken out about encouraging broader participation in higher education , particularly for students from low socio-economic backgrounds .
“ We need to make it easier for students to get the skills they need , either in universities or TAFE or other vocational training ,” Glover said .
“ I think the government is pretty clear that they ’ re going to be significantly supporting vocational education and training and the panel will look at the relationship between the two .”
JENNY MACKLIN Labor veteran Jenny Macklin , who retired from Australian politics in 2019 , is responsible for a number of significant changes
Jenny Macklin . Picture : AAP / Lukas Coch .
made to Australia ’ s social and health policy .
She was a strong advocate for the national apology made to the Stolen Generations made by Kevin Rudd in 2011 and helped to establish Australia ’ s first national paid parental leave scheme .
The former families and Indigenous affairs minister was also an architect of the Gillard government ’ s National Disability Insurance Scheme ( NDIS ).
In 2020 , Macklin led an inquiry into vocational education and training for the Victorian government .
Her final report identified a need to strengthen the TAFE and training sector ’ s relationships and pathways with universities .
Fiona Nash in 2017 . Picture : AAP / Lukas Coch .
FIONA NASH Former Nationals senator Fiona Nash is the second former politician on the expert panel .
Nash was appointed as Australia ’ s first Regional Education Commissioner by the Morrison Government in 2021 and has been a vocal champion for greater equity between regional and city education .
“ Developing strategies and solutions to boost the equity of access to higher education for Australians , particularly for those outside of metropolitan areas , is a key focus of mine ,” Nash said at a UA conference .
“ There is still more that needs to be done to achieve equity in higher education .” ■
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