ACPET has celebrated its 20th anniversary with a series of events in Sydney on 2 and 3 February 2012. A higher education forum, international seminars and an apprenticeship forum preceded a gala dinner in the evening of 3 February.

Guests at the dinner heard a brief history of ACPET from CEO, Claire Field, and Board Chair, Martin Cass. NSW Parliamentary Secretary, Gabrielle Uption, also addressed the dinner.

A video featuring former and current board members and CEOs that was played at the gala dinner has been edited into four videos:

Professional development events

During the afternoon of Thursday 2 February and all day Friday 3 February, ACPET hosted a series of free professional development events in Sydney:

• Opportunities for private tertiary providers in China
• Knight Review changes and what they mean for your business
• Apprenticeship forum
• How to improve your marketing success in India, and
• Higher education forum.

Higher education forum

The higher education sector plays a vital role in providing business with the required talent, knowledge and capabilities to support Australia’s future productivity and economic prosperity. Businesses rely on the higher education sector to ensure graduates are equipped with the relevant workforce skills to support business growth and competitive advantage.

The higher education sector has recently gone through a period of significant change with a shift to demand-driven funding for universities and broader reforms to improve participation in higher education. The resultant policy settings have a strong focus on increased participation, however the extent that the policy setting supports business needs requires further consideration. As part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, ACPET held a forum on 3 February 2012 to explore these issues.

The papers and presentations from the forum are available for members to review:

• A policy perspective: the role of higher education in meeting the needs of business and the community – Mary-Anne Sakkara, DIISRTE
• Swinburne online: meeting the needs of business, industry and the community – Professor Shirley Leitch, Swinburne University of Technology
• Pathways through higher education – from admissions to graduate outcomes– Dr Daniel Edwards, ACER
• Business needs for an effective higher education sector – nous group.