Nominations Open for the 2025 CAULLT/HERDSA Award for Outstanding Leadership in Higher Education

Nominations for the 2025 CAULLT/HERDSA Award for Outstanding Leadership in Higher Education have now opened.

This award is presented by two of Australia’s most respected higher education organisations and celebrates leaders whose innovative and effective practices have created lasting impact across the sector. Whether you have spearheaded institution-wide curriculum transformation, led ground-breaking research into educational practice, fostered innovative partnerships that reshape learning experiences or championed inclusive excellence tha opens new pathways for learners, your leadership deserves recognition.

Six Leadership Categories:

• Professional Learning Leadership: Advancing the professional development of colleagues and communities

• Scholarship of Learning and Teaching: Leading research and evidence-based practice in educational excellence

• Collaboration and Partnership: Building transformative relationships across institutions and sectors

• Governance Leadership: Shaping policy, strategy, and institutional direction

• Teaching and Learning Enhancement: Driving systematic improvements in educational quality and practice

• Inclusion Leadership: Creating equitable, accessible, and culturally responsive educational environments

Eligibility: Staff from CAULLT member universities or fully paid HERDSA members working in tertiary education

Timeline:

• Application Deadline: 6pm AEST, 15 September 2025 Late applications will not be considered.

• Finalists Notified: 22 September 2025

• Winners Announced: CAULLT Conference, 24 October 2025

Winners will be celebrated at the 2025 CAULLT Conference: Four Provocations for Leading in Learning and Teaching – a fitting event for recognising those who provoke positive change through their leadership.

Apply Now: Download application form

Your leadership has shaped higher education. Let us celebrate it.