September 2026

Episode 7 of The AI Inflection Point — the first of two conversations on connecting the dots between VET and higher education.
David Turvey, Executive Director of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, brings together four leaders who aren\’t talking about what could happen — they\’re already doing it.
Pascale Quester, Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne University, on what it actually takes to run a dual sector institution — and why for some students it\’s still easier to go somewhere else. Michelle Lincoln, DVC of the University of Canberra, on five concrete areas of integration with CIT that are already underway. Margot McNeill, CEO of the Canberra Institute of Technology, on why rigid qualification design is still getting in the way. And Taryn Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Macquarie, on why parity of esteem — not policy — might be the real barrier.

At the HEDx Conference at UTS, Ben Roden-Cohen and Madison Piper talk with Pascale Quester, Rachel Wilson, Rachel Fitzgerald, Danny Liu, Tim Fawns and Katie Ford to ask what the future of higher education should look like — and who gets a say in shaping it.The conversation goes beyond technology to explore the value of student voice, the importance of diverse perspectives in decision-making, and why innovation in teaching needs both time and investment. The guests discuss critical thinking, human connection, the joy of learning and the need to rethink how graduate success is defined and measured.Ultimately, it raises a bigger question for the sector: what does it cost to create the kind of higher education experience we want — and what is the cost of not doing it?