Welcome to the Noticeboard
Welcome to the October edition of the Noticeboard, a monthly update with news and opportunities from around the sector. If you have anything you’d like to share with members please contact DASSH.
News from dassh
Help shape DASSH’s advocacy
We invite members to share their areas of expertise and interest to strengthen DASSH’s policy and advocacy work. We are building a register of expertise and knowledge across our network to draw on when relevant consultations, submissions and other advocacy opportunities arise.
Areas may include, but are not limited to:
- Higher education policy
- Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, and Creative Arts disciplines
- Student enrolments and university experience
- Graduates, skills and workforce
- National cultural policies
- Student contribution and fee settings
- Research models and funding
- Artificial intelligence and technologies
- Other emerging issues relevant to the sector
Welcome to the new Board
At our AGM last month Council members endorsed the Board for the 2026-2028 term. Congratulations to our Executive:
- Professor Lori Lockyer, President
- Professor Bill Fish, Vice-President
- Professor Deborah Gare, Treasurer
- Professor Kate Nash, Secretary
And our Board members:
- Professor Nathan Wise
- Professor Katherine Johnson
- Professor James Verdon
- Professor Michael Ondaatje
- Professor Martin Drum
New status and Constitution
DASSH has recently been granted Company Limited by Guarantee status. We would like to thank all members and Council members for their ongoing efforts in this process over the past 18 months. Following this status change DASSH is now operating under a new Constitution.
Around the traps
Universities Accord Bill passes Parliament
The Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026 has passed both houses with amendments. Universities Australia welcomed the Bill’s passage, but warned that delivering on its ambitions will require ongoing and expanded funding.
Read the Minister for Education’s statement
Read Universities Australia’s statement
Greater research funding needed for Aotearoa
The Royal Society Te Apārangi has proposed a new framework to restore scale, stability and support for research funding in Aotearoa, in a report co-authored by DASSH member Professor Nancy November. The report highlights the importance of research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities.
Learn more
Jobs and Skills Report 2026: Formal qualifications valuable
The Pathways to success: jobs and skills report 2026 by Jobs and Skills Australia finds that higher education remains critical for success. However, pathways from Society and Culture studies are exposed to changes resulting from generative AI.
Read the report
Equity challenges changing
Understanding student realities and redesigning systems for success are key to equity reform, write contributors to The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success’ 2026 Equity Insights.
Read more
Call for Humanities-led AI research
Humanities-led Research and Development will ensure AI is trustworthy, culturally relevant and socially sustainable, asserts the Australian Academy of Humanities in its submission to the Australian Parliament’s Joint Select Committee Inquiry into Artificial Intelligence.
Read the submission
Drivers of employability vary between countries
Writing in Future Campus, DASSH member Professor Rachael Hains-Wesson and Dr Wei Li urge universities to consider curriculum reform which would prepare students to translate their capabilities across labour markets.
Read more
Student visa refusal rate at 10-year high
24.2 per cent of student visa applications to Australia were refused in June 2026, writes Natasya Salim for the ABC. Refusal rates were higher for applications from some countries, including 51 per cent for Nepali applicants.
Learn more
Student satisfaction remains steady
The results of the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching Student Experience Survey for 2026 have been released. Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities satisfaction ratings remain stable at slightly above average.
See results
Read commentary
World University Rankings released
Most Australian universities improved their score in this year’s World University Rankings, reports Angel Calderon for Future Campus. Derek Cheng from the NZ Herald attributes a fall in rankings of Aotearoa institutions to a lack of funding and a ‘brain-drain’ to Australia.
Read about Aotearoa
Read about Australia
Languages essential to national capability
The Australian Academy of Humanities has established a national expert committee to rebuild languages and cultural capability, following warnings that lacking language skills are an existential threat to Australia’s Asia Capability, reports Dirk Mulder for The Koala.
Learn more
Creative arts draw students
Amy Ridout from The Post finds that theatre studies continues to draw students in Aotearoa, despite the arts sector struggling following NZD$27 million in funding cuts.
Find out more
Arts studies for career adaptability
Critical thinking, adaptability and ‘human skills’ learnt in arts degrees will protect graduates from AI-driven disruptions in the employment market, writes Callum Borchers for The Wall Street Journal.
Read more
Proposed migration changes imperil funding
Alan Kohler reports for the ABC that two government targets – lower migration and higher tertiary education rates – are in conflict, given the significant contribution of international student fees to funding universities.
Learn more
Assessment vulnerable to AI
Assessment in arts and humanities courses remains highly exposed and vulnerable to the impacts of Artificial Intelligence, reports Stephen Matchett for Future Campus.
Read the article
Jobs board
Executive Dean, Faculty of Society and Business
Auckland University of Technology
Auckland University of Technology is hiring an Executive Dean for the Faculty of Society and Business. The Executive Dean will shape the future of the newly established Faculty, which will include the Schools of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hospitality and Tourism, Education, Business, and Law, and the Mangere Refugee Education Centre.
The successful candidate will secure a 5-year term, commencing early-mid 2027.
Applications close Sunday 1 November.
Opportunities
Consultation open: National Research Infrastructure Roadmap
The National Research Infrastructure Roadmap Exposure Draft is open for consultation. The Department of Education is seeking feedback on the Roadmap, which will guide investment in research infrastructure for the next five years.
Consultation closes Monday 26 October.
Consultation open: ATEC Statement of Strategic Priorities
ATEC invites feedback on the proposed outcomes and priorities in its inaugural 2027-28 Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP). The SSP notes current challenges and opportunities in tertiary education, and must be considered by relevant providers when developing their mission based compacts with ATEC.
Submissions close Friday 30 October.
Submissions open: Creative Matters, Edition 13
The editorial team asks contributors to this issue ‘REGENERATE’ to consider their practices as an interconnected web of creative, technological, cultural and human systems. Submissions of critical pieces, creative written pieces, and audio and video works are invited.
Submissions close Monday 2 November.
Australian Research Council | 2027 Future Fellowships
Applications for Future Fellowships for funding commencing in 2027 are now open in the Research Management System. Future Fellowships grants provide 4-year fellowships to outstanding Australian mid-career researchers.
Applications close Friday 6 November.
dassh Events
Horizon Europe workshop
Tuesday 10 November
9am (AWST) / 12pm (AEDT) / 2pm (NZDT)
Online
Led by Professor Nancy November and Professor Michael Ondaatje, this session will be an interactive and pragmatic introduction to Horizon Europe. We encourage any members involved in research, leadership and development, and international engagement to attend.
Learn more
dassh Networks
If you are interested in joining any of our working groups or Communities of Practice events, please reach out to us at office@dassh.edu.au.
Teaching and Learning Network: 2026 Wrap-up
Friday 23 October
12pm (AEDT)
Online
The last Teaching and Learning gathering of the year will be an opportunity to check in with colleagues, reflect on the year and continue some of the valuable conversations and discussions raised at the recent DASSH Conference, particularly around AI and the changing teaching and learning landscape.
Learn more
Bachelor of Arts working group meeting
Thursday 12 November
1-2pm (AEDT)
Online
This will be the final gathering of the BA working group for this year. More details to follow.
Stay up to date
Australian events
Student voice and equity in Higher Education during permacrisis
Wednesday 21 October
6 – 8pm (AEDT)
Melbourne | Online
This public event brings together current Monash students and academic experts to explore how contemporary permacrisis is reshaping educational access, participation and belonging.
Register here
Palgrave Macmillan Annual Lecture: Securing Sustainable Social Futures in Asia and the Pacific
Monday 2 November
6 – 7pm (AEDT)
Online
Kate Darian-Smith, President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, will argue that social science and humanities research is critical to developing practical solutions to contemporary challenges facing the Asia-Pacific.
Read more
ARDC Community Data Lab Co-design Workshop
Tuesday 10 November
2.30 – 4.20pm (AEDT)
Online
This co-design workshop is an opportunity to contribute to an improved National Film and Sound Archive of Australia search experience. The new system will be based on a knowledge graph that supports users without extensive domain knowledge.
Register here
Organise, Manipulate and Analyse Text Data with Wordflow
Thursday 26 November
1 – 2pm (AEDT)
Online
The Language Data Commons of Australia has developed a free, open-source app that brings analysis of large text corpora to anyone. This webinar explains how the app can help you responsibly use AI tools to transform unorganised text into actionable insights, without programming.
Read more
Australian Council of the Deans and Directors of Creative Arts Annual Symposium
Friday 27 November
9am – 4.30pm (AEDT)
Melbourne
The annual Australian Council of the Deans and Directors of Creative Arts Symposium will reflect the past decade of creative arts practice while looking ahead to the question: what do we want the next decade to look like?
Learn more
Aotearoa Events
Hui Rangahau Graham Nuthall Research Symposium 2026
Tuesday 20 October
4 – 6pm (NZDT)
Ōtautahi Christchurch | Online
In the Graham Nuthall Lecture, Dr Hana O’Regan and Associate Professor Frauke Meyer will present on the Hāpaitia te Ngākau Aroha – Elevate Empathy project, an anti-bias training for teachers.
Register here
Universities NZ Election Series:
AI and the Future of Work
Tuesday 20 October
5.30 – 7pm (NZDT)
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
AI is already changing how people work and the skills employers value. This discussion will explore how AI is reshaping the workplace, what it means for careers and job security, and how New Zealand can prepare the next generation for the future of work.
Register here
Nelson Arts Festival
22 October – 1 November
Whakatū Nelson
The festival is a conduit for creative expression in the community, weaving together stories of people and place.
Learn more
Margaret Dalziel Lecture: Australia’s Indigenous languages and what they can teach us
Wednesday 28 October
4 – 5.30pm (NZDT)
Ōtautahi Dunedin
Professor Rachel Nordlinger from the University of Melbourne will explore how Australia’s Indigenous languages offer remarkable insights into how people perceive, categorise and communicate about the world.
Register here
Micheal Volkerling Lecture: Artificial Intelligence, Memory and Culture
Wednesday 18 November
4 – 6pm (NZDT)
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
Professor Areti Galani from Newcastle University, UK, will critically reflect on the opportunities and challenges of AI technologies and ‘synthetic’ media for memory institutions, the knowledges they care for and their audiences.
Register here
What writing do we need?
Thursday 19 November
6pm (NZDT)
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Join the 2026 New Commissions Writers for a panel discussion marking the launch of five new texts of cultural criticism, with Anoushka Coutler, Rahul Hendriksen, Ruby Macomber, Kieran Mclean, and Roro.
Learn more
The 2026 Conference for the Social Sciences | He kai kei aku ringa
Wednesday 2 – Friday 4 December
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Hosted by the Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand, the 2026 Conference for the Social Sciences | He kai kei aku ringa will be held at Waipapa Taumata Rau, The University of Auckland. This inaugural conference offers a way of thinking about knowledge as sustenance.
Find out more