Student engagement
Student Expert Advisory Group
Overview
TEQSA's Student Expert Advisory Group was established to provide us with advice on approaches and strategies relating to regulation and quality assurance of higher education providers, with particular reference to the engagement of students.
The group, chaired by TEQSA's CEO, is made up of members from a selection of Australia’s major student representative bodies, including the:
- National Union of Students
- Council of International Students Australia
- Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Postgraduate Association
- Union of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students
- Australian Queer Students’ Network.
The group also includes representatives nominated by peak bodies including the Australian Council for Private Education and Training, Independent Higher Education Australia and TAFE Directors Australia.
Terms of reference
View the Student Expert Advisory Group's Terms of Reference.
Members
Natasha Abrahams, National President, CAPA
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Natasha Abrahams is the National President of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, the peak representative body for Australia’s 400,000+ postgraduate students. In this role, she is campaigning for income support for domestic postgraduate students. She is also interested in mental health and wellbeing of postgraduate students. Natasha is a doctoral student in the Monash University School of Social Sciences, and her dissertation argues that the sexual division of domestic labour is promoted by news reporting of scientific findings pertaining to sex differences. She is also currently the President of the Monash Postgraduate Association, which represents the interests of postgraduate students at Monash University. |
Rosie Arcadi, ACPET
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Rosie Arcadi (Rosanne) is studying a Bachelor of Culinary Management at Torrens University at William Blue Hospitality Management College. She has been in the hospitality industry for five years working in various restaurants. She has previously obtained a Certificate III in dental assisting and a Certificate II in assisting in forensic sciences but her love is hospitality. Through her bachelor degree, she hopes to achieve more knowledge and experience in sales and marketing within the hospitality industry. |
Tess Bourguignon, IHEA
Desiree Cai, National President, NUS
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Desiree Cai is the National President of the National Union of Students in 2019. She is studying for a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in politics and international studies, and criminology at the University of Melbourne. Last year she represented students on campus as the President of the University of Melbourne Student Union. This year Desiree is focused on ensuring the voice of students and young people are heard. |
Braedyn Edwards, President, UATSIS
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Braedyn is the 2018-19 President of the Union of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students, the peak representative body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander undergraduate students. He is a descendant of the Gamillaroi and Kunya peoples and is completing his Bachelors of Laws/Arts at the ANU on Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country. |
Sadie Heckenberg, President, NATSIPA
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Sadie Heckenberg is the President of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Postgraduate Association. A Swinburne University of Technology student, Sadie is currently undertaking a PhD in Indigenous Oral History. A Wiradjuri Woman, Sadie was the 2014 Fulbright Indigenous Postgraduate Scholar, undertaking her research in the Kamakakūokalani Centre for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai’i Mānoa. Sadie’s oral history research focuses on Indigenous methodologies, Cultural Safety and protecting Indigenous spoken knowledge through intellectual property and copyright law. In 2017, Sadie was a National Library of Australia Summer Scholar and a Columbia University Oral History Institute Summer Fellow. She is a lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland’s College for Indigenous Studies, Education and Research. |
Brendan Moore, Canberra Institute of Technology (TDA)
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Brendan Moore is the Chair of the CIT Student Association and the Student Member on the CIT Board. |
Bijay Sapkota, National President, CISA
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Bijay Sapkota is the National President of the Council of International Students Australia (CISA), the peak representative body for international students studying in Australia. He is studying a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Honours) at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) where he is a member of the UTS Council. Bijay was a co-winner of the NSW International Student of the Year in 2016 in recognition of his engagement in youth affairs, humanitarian and multicultural, in Nepal and Australia. In 2017 at the Youth SAARC Regional Conference in Kathmandu, he was awarded the Youth Inspiration Award by the Honourable Dr Ram Baran Yadav, the former President of Nepal. |
Lulu Thornley, AQSN
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Lulu Thornley is a fourth year arts student at Monash University. She is currently one of the national co-convenors for the Australian Queer Students Network (AQSN) and has been Queer Officer at MONSU for the past two years. |
Meetings
Inaugural meeting – Canberra, 2 March 2018
The inaugural meeting of the Student Expert Advisory Group took place in Canberra on Friday 2 March. The group discussed raising student awareness of TEQSA’s regulatory decisions, how to involve the student voice in our regulatory work and the actions currently underway to tackle the issue of sexual assault and harassment.
The group is planning to meet at least three times per year, with the next meeting set for 11 July in Melbourne.
Second meeting – Melbourne, 11 July 2018
The second meeting of the Student Expert Advisory Group was held in Melbourne on 11 July 2018. The focus of the meeting was to discuss how students could be made aware of TEQSA assessments of providers’ course accreditation or registration, and how the agency could make its role more visible to the wider student population.
The group were also provided with an update on the agency’s work regarding sector-wide issues such as sexual assault and sexual harassment, improvements to admissions transparency and combatting contract cheating.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday 26 November in Melbourne.
Resources
Social media posts
Want to help spread the word of TEQSA's role in protecting student interests in higher education?
- Download TEQSA for students social media posts for: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
- Share the posts and include a link to the Students section of our website.
Below: example of TEQSA's student engagement Facebook post
