September 2025

We were blessed with remarkably good weather for our 2025 Open Day series and enjoyed another sunny day for our final Open Day in Bendigo on 24 August. Thanks again to our fantastic Student Recruitment team and the many professional and academic staff across the University that made our Open Days so successful this year. We can be confident about converting the significant interest in La Trobe into enrolments for next year.

There have been some interesting sector discussions recently. Last month, I participated in the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Summit in Sydney, which featured university and industry leaders, policy experts and a keynote by Education Minister Jason Clare. I was part of a panel with UniSA Vice-Chancellor David Lloyd and Daisey Stampfer from telecommunications and ISP company Superloop. We discussed ways that universities can address skills gaps and shortages and help with industry challenges, including preparing students for the future of work by embedding AI into our teaching and assessment, and helping to build AI skills to support the nation’s economic growth.

I was in Canberra last week for a series of meetings and workshops convened by Universities Australia and the Innovative Research Universities network, including a workshop with the interim Australian Tertiary Education Commissioners and the Department of Education at which we discussed development of mission-based compacts with universities, a roadmap for the Government’s tertiary harmonisation program, 2026 funding arrangements, and policy settings for international education.

Last Wednesday, Universities Australia Chair Carolyn Evans gave an address to the National Press Club. She discussed how Australian research and innovation can be better supported and called on Government to set “new and fairer fees for students” through reform of the Job-ready Graduates package. You can read Carolyn’s speech here and watch a recording of her address here.

Finally, I would like to address some events you may have seen media reports about recently, which are directly relevant to our work at La Trobe. On a positive note, I was pleased to read news about development of the new Treaty for Victoria that will ensure Indigenous Australians have a say in decisions that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The University stands firm in our support for Indigenous peoples’ push for voice, treaty and truth as described in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and truth-telling through fora such as the Yoorrook Justice Commission's land, sky and waters hearings.

Sadly, there have also been reports about anti-immigration protests that occurred around the country last weekend. La Trobe abhors racism of any kind, and we are committed to providing a safe and welcoming community for everyone. I encourage you to register for the online launch of the University’s new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy on 9 September. It’s also really important that we all complete the Racism@Uni Survey being administered by the Australian Human Rights Commission. If you haven’t yet done the survey, you should have received a reminder email with a confidential link. We need as many staff as possible to complete the survey so that the data reflects the views and experiences of university communities across Australia.

I’d now like to mention some recent University activities and achievements.

La Trobe launches 

Last month, we held events to launch several new La Trobe programs that will help us to continue having a big impact in the community.

La Trobe alumna and Premier of Victoria the Hon. Jacinta Allan MP launched our new Rural Dental and Oral Health Clinical teaching school in Bendigo. The School will play a major role in our mission to address rural and regional health workforce shortages. 150 enrolments are expected next year (double the previous intake), 75 per cent of whom will be from regional areas. It was fitting that the Premier launched the new School, as she studied for her La Trobe BA in Bendigo.

Chancellor the Hon. John Brumby AO officiated at the launch of the ARC Research Hub for Molecular Biosensors at Point-of-Use (MOBIUS) that is being established at La Trobe. Led by Conor Hogan from LIMS, MOBIUS is a collaboration between six universities and more than 20 industry partners that will design, develop and test novel point-of-use sensing technologies for diverse applications across industries including the agriculture and food, biosecurity, and health and medical sectors.

La Trobe is fast becoming the national hub for sensor tech innovation. MOBIUS is building on the success of the Biomedical and Environmental Sensor Technology (BEST) Research Centre that Conor established at La Trobe in 2019, while Brian Abbey from LIMS invented the NanoMslide, the world’s first smart microscope slide, which won the Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology and is being commercialised by spin-out company AlleSense.

I joined Education Minister Jason Clare in Broadmeadows on 13 August for the opening of the Northern Study Hub being led by La Trobe. Delivered with partners including Hume City Council, Melbourne Polytechnic, City of Whittlesea, Whittlesea Community Connections, Kangan Institute and NORTH Link, the Hub has learning sites in Broadmeadows and Epping.

It provides learning and academic skills support close to where people live and is available for students studying at any university. It will make a huge difference in expanding educational access – and success.

Eureka!  

Congratulations to our Professor of Health Communication in Society, Bianca Brijnath, and her team on being named finalists for the 2025 Eureka Prize for Societal Impact in Science for the MINDSET project that improves dementia assessments for non-English speakers. The team, known as MINDSET, was led by Professor Bianca Brijnath when she was Division Director at the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI). MINDSET was developed in collaboration with community, industry and education partners as well as interpreters, clinicians, and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) carers. It is making a difference for multicultural communities across the globe.

Winning work

I was delighted to be at the Islamic Museum of Australia (IMA) last month to announce Sydney artist Sepideh Farzam as the winner of the 2025 Australian Muslim Artists Prize, which is sponsored by La Trobe. Sepideh’s work, Threads of Red Silence, is a striking site-specific installation that invites the viewer to reflect on trauma, resilience and hope for peace in the Middle East. You can see Sepideh’s work alongside other finalists showing at the 2025 Australian Muslim Artists exhibition at the IMA site in Thornbury until 8 November.

Literary leaders 

I’m delighted that three books with connections to La Trobe have been longlisted for the Australian Political Book of the Year Award. Congratulations to Clare Wright on another accolade for her important book Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy, which has been longlisted alongside two books published by the La Trobe University Press: Ross Garnaut’s Let’s Tax Carbon and Shireen Morris’ Broken Heart: A True History of the Voice Referendum. The shortlist is announced next week.

I expect that Prove It, the excellent La Trobe University Press book written by former VC’s Fellow Elizabeth Finkel, will be selected for future literary awards. Prove It was one of the books of the week in The Age last week, described as a “timely, stimulating work that buzzes with the passion and rigour of scientific debate.” I was pleased to attend the formal book launch at The Royal Society of Victoria last week, which was recorded for ABC’s Big Ideas with Natasha Mitchell. You can also read an adapted extract from the book at The Conversation website.

The next book being published by the La Trobe University Press is Playtime: A History of Australian Childhood by Emily Gallagher. The fascinating book, which is the first history of childhood play and imagination in pre-WWII Australia, is fittingly being launched this month by actor, presenter, author – and longtime Play School presenter – Justine Clarke.

Indigenous Week 

We celebrated Indigenous Week at the University last week, which provided the La Trobe community with an opportunity to celebrate, recognise and engage with the diverse cultures, knowledges, and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across our campuses. I attended a great event in the Agora at the Bundoora campus. It was terrific to see a group of children from the La Trobe University Community Children’s Centre at the event to learn about Indigenous history and culture. Some of the children also visited the Ngarn-gi Bagora Indigenous Centre and played with an emu caller and possum skins, which they enjoyed immensely.

Upcoming events 

La Trobe Asia is presenting a discussion about Australia-Korea maritime cooperation on 8 September, which will consider some of the unique security challenges faced by South Korea. Bec Strating will be joined by Dr Troy Lee-Brown from UWA, Afeeya Akhand from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and Associate Professor Danielle Chubb from Deakin University. Details and registration information is available here.

The Chancellor will be presenting the inaugural Mallee Series keynote lecture in Mildura on 10 September. The Chancellor’s talk, The Role of the Regions in Building a Better Australia, is the first in a new annual series that will bring the Mildura community together to explore the policies, social issues and opportunities that are shaping regional Australia. You can register here.

On 17 September, the Industry Engagement team’s Industry Innovation Series features a seminar at the Digital Innovation Hub on the Bundoora campus exploring Biotech Solutions for Cancer Therapeutics with experts from BioNTech and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. Registration details are here.

I’m looking forward to welcoming Professor Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism, who is giving the La Trobe Law School’s International and Comparative Law Cluster annual lecture on 18 September at our City campus. His talk, World on Fire: Is the “Rules-based International Order” Disintegrating – and What Does it Mean for Australia? will explore challenges to international law but also ways in which it is resilient. You can register here to hear Professor Saul talk from his unique vantage point as a UN mandate holder.

In closing

I hope that teaching and support staff enjoy the mid-semester break next week, whether you are taking the opportunity for some time off work or focussing on non-teaching activity.

Finally, please do nominate a colleague or team for the 2025 Staff Awards that we launched yesterday. Nominations close on Friday 3 October.

Best wishes,
Theo