National Summit ‘Creating Australia 2040 – Education & Employability’

What is the Society we want to be in 2040 and how do we get there?

After three years of disruption and unpredictable devastation, the time has come for us to explore and develop a holistic vision and roadmap of what Australia could be in 2040 – a resilient, fair and prosperous society that embraces the needs of both its peoples and their lands.


However, it seems that none of our wicked problems can be resolved independently of the others.

Bringing together a broad-based coalition of influential thought leaders in a cross-sectoral collaborative partnership, our ‘Creating Australia 2040 – Education & Employability’ National Summit is the first of a series of events that will explore the key issues that require questioning, re-imagining and progressing towards the Society we want to be.

How can we find or create the leaders and professionals who we are relying on to successfully get us to 2040?  Do we need more emphasis on educating young people about collaborative problem solving, democracy and real citizenship?  How can we identify practical, inclusive, evidenced-based steps to address the education and employability challenges of the next two decades?

KAs the unifying alliance of professional organisations we will collaborate with thought leaders to explore these questions and seize the opportunities to create the Society we want to be.

One of the Summits’ main objectives is the development of an integrated ‘Set of Principles’ that embody our collective commitment and responsibility in delivering on the Australia 2040 vision.

Our invitation-only ‘Creating Australia 2040 – Education and Employability‘ National Summit on 4 August 2022 will bring together a broad-based coalition of influential thought leaders to develop a holistic vision and roadmap for a fair, prosperous and enterprising Australia 2040.  Acting purposefully for the common good, we will work collaboratively and consultatively to mould bold and transformative long-term strategies.

The inaugural National Virtual Summit on 4 August 2022 will provide an overarching lens of Education and Employability, intended to focus leaders of education and industry to explore the issues we will face in the next two decades and to develop the education and employability pillars that will lay the foundation for the society we want to be in 2040. 

Full Program Announced!

We are delighted to announce that the program for the Summit has been confirmed, with the opening keynote by distinguished Professor Emeritus Julianne Schultz AM FAHA and our Chief Futurist, Dr Simon Eassom.

Professor Julianne Schultz  AM FAHA
Dr Simon Eassom

Julianne’s opening keynote will explore the ‘Idea of Australia’ challenging our notions of what it means to be Australian and asks timely and urgent questions about our national identity. This will be followed by Simon’s thought-provoking presentation on the future of education and employability, by unpacking what the future of work and the future of learning will mean to professionals.

Download the National Summit’s Program here.

Summit’s Education and Industry Panels

The big issues that vex our progress towards a brighter future are inexorably interrelated: climate action; reconciliation with our First Nations People; sustainable and inclusive economic recovery and growth; educational equity; national health and wellbeing; gender equality and industry reform are just a few of those issues. The identification of these issues as sustainable development goals is not new, nor is our consideration of them. What is new is the confluence, intensity and acceleration of these threats, that makes continuing inaction and fragmentation untenable.

Our panel of education and industry leaders will discuss, debate, dissect and engage in meaningful discourse on all these issues and more.

Further details to come on the Education and Industry panels. But for now, make sure you mark 4 August 2022 in your calendars.

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