Can you tell us what HeadX is and what inspired that choice?

Yes, well, I found a headaches as I left my last university job at Griffith University, just turning 60.

And I refer to in your first question there, Terry, the transformational opportunity and the inspiration I took from never realizing that a world of universities and higher education and global universities might be an opportunity that I could take.

But I reached the end of a long career working in universities as researcher, as academic, as head of school, as dean of faculty in chancellories, probably with a great sense of frustration, actually, that... having had the opportunity to work in them, I've always been inclined to want to change them.

And I found trying to change them from within really a challenge.

The hierarchies of leadership, the risk aversion of governance, the really severe constraints of compliance, in many cases, I think prevent many individuals and many institutions being as adventurous and as open to change as they otherwise would naturally be with the nature of the individuals that work in them.

So having spent a lot of time trying to change them from within and not feeling inclined to hit a ball down a bit of grass for the rest of my life, I thought I'd have a go at being an entrepreneur and drawing upon some of that experience of networks that I was so avidly building within the sector to add to them and to try and agitate and to try and explore and to try and – without the constraints of governance and without the constraints of an employer – situation, just do some thinking on what higher education could become.

You have actually been engaged in some partnership work with universities around AI.

Why was that important this year for HeadX?

I know my good friend Alex Subic, when you interviewed him, said something like he thought it was a great idea, I don't know whose it was.

Well, it wasn't mine actually.

It was an idea that really became obvious at our last conference at UQ and Maddy Piper, who I know works with you all, on this student experience podcast found herself, I say she stormed the stage, but she was invited to the stage because of the relevance and value of the questions she was all asking on Slido and by putting her hand up in the audience, it made us all realize, and I think it was Sharon Barrow, Sharon Burrow, the chair of Bendigo Kangan Institute that used the well-known union phrase, nothing about us without us, which sums it all up really.

And I looked at it there and then and we all reflected at that moment that we should never have another HeadX conference and we should never have any conferences like this again.

anywhere in a sector that's looking to serve its stakeholders, I call them customers too, should serve its stakeholders without them being centrally involved in the conversation.

So I'm delighted that every part and element of this conference has a student voice somewhere and I'm really pleased to work with you Belinda and your colleagues in student voice Australasia and the wonderful students like Jen and Jasmine and Maddy and Ben and all that are giving such great effort to this venture that you're giving a route for that student voice to be heard within this community.

So thank you to HeadX for your support.