Barbara van Ernst (Panel Chairperson), Education Consultant
Barbara van Ernst is an Educational Consultant, and was previously Deputy Vice Chancellor (Learning & Teaching) and Pro Vice Chancellor (Community Engagement) at Swinburne University of Technology and prior to that was Head of School, Visual Performing and Media Arts, and Chair, Academic Board, Deakin University. She has had extensive teaching experience in primary and secondary schools in Victoria, and in the tertiary sector, Her areas of teaching include education and the performing arts. She was also Chair of Academic Board at Deakin University. She has supervised a number of PhD candidates to successful completion and has examined a number of theses for other universities, mainly in the areas of the arts, education and creative writing. In particular she has had experience in the PhD model based on creative practice and exegesis. Professor van Ernst has served for three terms as a Councillor for the City of Hawthorn, including two years as Mayor. She has served on a number of boards and committees, including the Victorian Qualifications Authority, the Higher Education Advisory Committee in Victoria and the Programs Committee of Open Universities Australia. She is a quality auditor for the Australian Universities Quality Agency, the Singapore Higher Education Accreditation Council, the New Zealand Universities Audit Unit and the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications. She has recently conducted audits in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Bahrain and for the Australian Catholic University. She has had experience in community organisations such as Rotary International, serving as President of the Lilydale Club for one year, President of Melbourne Chorale and President of Theatreworks. She was also a probation officer for a number of years and is a Justice of the Peace. She has also been a personal mentor to a number of people in leadership. In 1994 she was awarded an AM for services to education.

Karen Treloar Audit Director, AUQA
Karen Treloar commenced work at AUQA on the 1st April 2008 as Audit Director, Non Self-Accrediting Institutions. Karen joins AUQA from the University Technology Sydney where she was Manager, Strategic Planning and Review and responsible for the project management of the UTS AUQA audit in 2005. Karen has experience in a variety of strategy, public policy and review roles having worked at RMIT, a dual sector university, and in the area of Post Compulsory Education in the Victorian Department of Education which included a secondment to the Department of Education and Employment in the UK. Karen brings to AUQA strong project management skills and an understanding of the challenges involved in preparing an institution for audit. Karen was awarded a Victorian Public Sector Scholarship to undertake an MBA specialising in public sector management and is currently completing a PhD in the area of the Innovation Economy. In 2009 Karen completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Company Directors Course.

Sophia Matiasz Principal Policy Officer, Higher Education Directorate, DFEEST, South Australia
Sophia Matiasz is Principal Policy Officer in the Higher Education Directorate at the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology in South Australia. Prior to this she held senior South Australian policy positions in Ageing; Consumer Affairs; Children’s and Disability Services; and Health. She has, over the past twenty years, held university teaching positions in teacher education; community medicine; biomedical ethics; policy; anthropology and strategic planning and management in SA (University of South Australia; Flinders University and Adelaide University); WA; NT (Batchelor College) and Canada (University of Alberta, Athabasca University). She is a Research Fellow at the University of South Australia in the Division of Business, International Graduate School of Business and where she co-supervises PhD level research. Her undergraduate studies in Western Australia yielded a BA (University of Western Australia) Associateship in Social Science (WAIT); and a Dip Tch (Secondary Teachers College). She has an MA in anthropology from Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines; a PhD in anthropology from the University of Alberta, Canada; a Masters in Public Policy from Flinders University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of South Australia. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a former Councillor of the Institute of Public Administrators, SA Branch. Her research interests include higher education equity; medical student access and participation; strategic planning and outcomes; teacher education and the impact on student higher education or career choice, particularly with regard to mathematics and science education; and mentoring across the sectors. Her community engagement includes working with primary school councils with a view to empowering parents in schools working with disadvantaged communities; and with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities building and maintaining culturally appropriate aged care support services.