Initial Teacher Education Quality Assurance Oversight Board

Ms Jenny Atta PSM (Chair)

Secretary, Department of Education, Victoria

Jenny Atta has been Secretary of the Victorian Department of Education since March 2019 and a senior executive in the Victorian Public Service for many years. She has held leadership roles in treasury and finance as well as social policy portfolios and in 2021 was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to strategic social policy reform and delivery in Victoria.
Jenny is a strong advocate for the important role of the public service and the critical impact that high quality public administration and public policy can have for communities and citizens.
In her current role Jenny has responsibility for steering the Department of Education in Victoria with responsibility for management, oversight, and delivery of the government school system, as well as landmark reforms in early childhood education that are seeking to deliver transformative social and economic benefits for the state.

Emeritus Professor Bill Louden AM (Deputy Chair)

Deputy Chair of Teacher Education Expert Panel (2023) and academic in the field of ITE at the University of Western Australia

Professor Bill Louden was formerly Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Education of the University of Western Australia. He has led a number of government reviews and inquiries including an investigation of high performing primary schools for the Western Australian Government and two reviews of the NAPLAN assessment program. Professor Louden was also a member of the Australian Government’s Teacher Education Expert Panel and the Expert Panel for the Quality Initial Teacher Education Review. He has served as chair and board member of state and national statutory authorities responsible for curriculum, assessment and professional standards, and was a member of the panel for the landmark National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy.

Ms Adrienne Nieuwenhuis

TEQSA Commissioner

Adrienne Nieuwenhuis is a Commissioner at the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA); the national regulator for higher education.  Prior to her appointment to TEQSA, Adrienne held senior positions at the University of South Australia, most recently as the Director of the Office of Vice Chancellor, and in state government as the Director Quality, Tertiary Education, Science and Research in the South Australian Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology.  While in this role, Adrienne worked closely with the Australian Government in the establishment of the national regulatory systems for both higher education and VET.

Adrienne was an inaugural member of the Higher Education Standards Panel (2011–14) and the National Skills Standards Council (2011–13).  She was reappointed to the Higher Education Standards Panel for a further three-year term in 2018. Adrienne has also been a member of the South Australian Skills Commission since 2013.

Adrienne has over 30 years’ experience in tertiary education, regulation and in public administration, management and governance. She has been a member of various state and federal committees and working parties associated with both VET and higher education and public policy. Adrienne holds an honours degree in science and a master’s degree in tertiary education policy and administration.

Ms Chloe Read

Department of Education, NSW

Chloe is the Deputy Secretary, Education and Skills Reform at the NSW Department of Education. Chloe has a strong background in public sector education, having worked in this setting for the last 20 years across Tasmania and New South Wales. She joined the NSW Department of Education in 2014, and has worked in a number of senior roles. With experience across policy, project, IT and leadership roles, Chloe brings business and technical knowledge across the education sectors.  She is focused on ensuring our schools and services have what they need to support world class education for all learners across the state of NSW.

Professor Elizabeth Labone

Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Catholic Education Office

Professor Elizabeth Labone has worked in the education sector for more than 30 years. She is currently Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Catholic Education Authority. Prior to her current appointment Professor Labone was Deputy Vice Chancellor, Learning and Teaching at the University of Notre Dame. Professor Labone has held a range of senior leadership roles including Executive Dean, Faculty Arts, Science, Law and Business at the University of Notre Dame and Executive Dean, Faculty of Education and Arts at the Australian Catholic University in which she led the largest teacher education program in Australia. She completed her PhD in Educational Psychology at the University of Sydney, where she also commenced her academic career. Professor Labone holds deep knowledge of the education sector and its operation within multiple jurisdictions and regulatory contexts. Professor Labone has previously served on Executive of the Australian Council of Deans of Education and New South Wales Council of Deans of Education. She has also been a member of the Victorian and Queensland Councils of Deans of Education. Professor Labone has also served as Member, National Schools Resourcing Board and as a non-Executive Director on a number of boards in the Education sector including for the Archdiocese of Sydney and Loreto Ministries.

Professor Labone’s research and scholarship is focused in three main areas: the psychology of learning and teaching; teacher development and efficacy, teacher education and disadvantage with particular focus on supporting equity groups into higher education. Prior to her engagement in the higher education sector Elizabeth worked as a teacher within government and Catholic schools in the ACT and NSW.

Emeritus Professor Joanne Reid

Academic in the field of ITE at Charles Sturt University

Jo-Anne Reid is Emeritus Professor of Education at Charles Sturt University.   She worked as Presiding Officer of the Academic Senate at CSU from 2014-2018, following her tenure as Associate Dean, Teacher Education from 2007, and as Head of the School of Teacher Education from 2002. Originally a secondary English teacher, and Curriculum Advisory Consultant for rural teachers in WA, she taught literacy education at Murdoch University before completing her PhD in English curriculum programming at Deakin. She has worked in literacy teacher education and research in three rural universities (Ballarat, New England and Charles Sturt) and is committed to improving the preparation of teachers for schools in rural and remote locations.

She served on the Teacher Education Quality Assurance Panel for the NSW Department of Education from 2003-2006, on the NSWIT Initial Teacher Education Committee until 2011, and then on the NSW Board of Studies until 2013. She has been President of the NSW Teacher Education Council, the Australian Teacher Education Association, and the Australian Association for Research in Education.  As a teacher education researcher, she has won a range of Australian Research Council grants over her career, which have focussed on literacy education, the history and practice of teacher education, the career pathways of indigenous teachers, literacy and environmental sustainability and rural teacher education.

Mr Douglas Melrose-Rae

Associate Chief Executive, Association of Independent Schools of NSW

Douglas Melrose-Rae is Associate Chief Executive at the Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW) with responsibility for policy, advocacy, and service delivery in the areas of teacher accreditation, school registration, compliance, Aboriginal education, and early childhood.
Douglas has worked as a school principal and has held other senior education roles in both the NSW Independent sector and the government sector, including previously as Head of Evaluation in the NSW Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation.

Mr Stephen Bell

Department of Education, Queensland (2013-2023)

Stephen has been a teacher, middle leader, principal and system leader.

His experience includes roles in urban, rural and regional settings throughout Queensland.

Stephen has experience in university sector lecturing and tutoring ITE students. He has been actively involved in the delivery of pre-service programs and worked in partnerships with various universities in beginning teacher initiatives.

Stephen has extensive experience in the development and  roll out of teacher attraction and retention programs for Education Queensland.

Mr Matthew Johnson

President, Australian Special Education Principals Association

Matthew Johnson has been with the NSW Department of Education NSW for 34 years and was originally visual arts and music trained before undertaking postgraduate studies in special education. He has held positions in high schools, central schools, primary schools, regional and head office positions, in rural, remote and metropolitan areas. He has been a principal for 22 years working in special school settings and has been principal of five special schools and previously a head teacher of two specialist settings.

Matthew has also held positions as State Coordinator of Behaviour Programs NSW DEC, was a NSW Premiers’ Special Education Scholar, an International Fire Instructor (Lead Trainer Botswana Fire Program - NSW Rural Fire Service) and Assistant Regional Director State-wide School Performance – Special Schools (QLD). He is a long-serving member of the NSW Secondary Principals Council and the NSW Primary Principals’ Association.

Matthew is currently the substantive Lead Principal of Newcastle School, a community of special schools in Newcastle NSW, which caters for students with disabilities and complex needs across three campuses.

Professor Ruth Wallace

Faculty of Arts and Society, Charles Darwin University

Professor Ruth Wallace is the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Arts and Society at Charles Darwin University. She is a leader in Indigenous education with specialised expertise in education policy and systems in regional and remote areas. She has a special interest in understanding the role of Aboriginal knowledge in education and how particular strengths can be used to improve student success. Her research has spanned both workforce development and learning pathways in both urban and remote areas of the Northern Territory. Ruth’s career has enabled her to focus on building maintaining high profile national and international partnerships with institutions and government. Through these connections, Ruth is passionate about advocating for marginalised learners, the development of effective learning and workforce development pathways particularly through remote-based enterprises.

Ms Jane Bovill

Former School Principal, Tasmania 

Jane has had over 40 years of experience in Tasmanian public education, culminating in 21 years as a principal. She is passionate about building collaborative professional cultures, promoting inclusion, encouraging innovation and setting high expectations.

Her experience includes roles as the facilitator of Principal Induction Program, representative on Principal Advisory Group, a co-facilitator of an inquiry partnership using a principal expertise model and as a consultant in literacy and policy development. She has been a State Director of the Australian Literacy Educators' Association.

In 2021-2023 Jane was an expert panel member on the Tasmanian Government's Literacy Advisory Panel developing a community wide framework to achieve a literate Tasmania. She has been recognised with a number of scholarships and awards, including the ACEL Excellence in Educational Leadership in 2023. In the same year she was an inductee into the Tasmanian Women's Honour Roll for services to education and training.

She has been a keen advocate of school-university partnerships and is strongly committed to supporting early career teachers or those on that pathway.