Tuition Protection Service Advisory Board

The Board is required, by legislation, to consist of:

1. a representative from each of the following agencies:

• the Department of Education
• the Department administered by the Minister overseeing the VET Student Loans Act 2016 (DEWR)
• the Department whose Minister administers the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Finance)
• the Department administered by the Immigration Minister (Home Affairs)
• the Australian Government Actuary
• the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

2. up to seven other members.

The Board is guided by the TPS Advisory Board Charter.

Appointed members

Ms Helen Zimmerman (Chair)

Helen is Chair of the TPS Advisory Board. She has worked in leadership roles in Australian public and private education for over 40 years since beginning her career as a teacher of English to migrants and refugees in the 1970s.

From 2005 to 2018 Helen was a senior executive of global tertiary education provider Navitas. Prior to joining Navitas she was Managing Director of ACL, the largest private provider of English language education in Australia.

Helen is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has served on the boards of a number of peak professional education associations, government and regulatory bodies including the NSW Vocational Education and Training Board, NEAS, English Australia, IEAA, Jobs for NSW, the NSW Skills Board and the CEDA NSW/ACT State Advisory Council.

Helen received an International Education Association of Australia Distinguished Contribution Award in 2017 for initiatives to improve international education in Australia.

Dr Kevin Donnelly AM (Deputy Chair)

In 2013 Kevin was appointed as a Senior Research Fellow in the Australian Catholic University’s Faculty of Education and Arts and he is currently a Senior Fellow at the Australian Catholic University’s PM Glynn Institute.

Kevin taught English and humanities for 18 years in government and non-government secondary schools, and has advised state and federal governments on school curriculums within an international context, including co-chairing the 2014 review of the Australian Curriculum. Kevin served as Chief of Staff to a federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.

Kevin was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2016 for services to education as a researcher and author.

Ms Jenny Lambert

Jenny has extensive policy development and advocacy experience in vocational training, higher education, schools, employment, and migration, having most recently served as the policy director for Economics, Employment & Skills at the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Jenny has worked with industry associations in the business and services sector for over 38 years, including as Chief Executive Officer of Restaurant & Catering Australia, Meetings & Events Australia, Nursery & Garden Industry Australia (now Greenlife Industry Australia), and the National Tourism Alliance.

The Hon Phil Honeywood

Phil has been Chief Executive Officer of the International Education Association of Australia since 2011. He also sits on the Education Visa Consultative Committee, and is Convenor of the Council for International Education.

Prior to his work in the education sector, Phil was a member of the Victorian State Parliament for almost two decades, serving as Minister for Tertiary Education and Training and Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He was Deputy Leader of the Victorian State Opposition from 2002 to 2006.

Ex-officio members

Mr Peter Kohlhagen

General Manager, Insurance Division, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

Mr Guy Thorburn

Australian Government Actuary

Mr Libor Pelecky

First Assistant Secretary, Industry, Education and Infrastructure Division, Department of Finance

Ms Karen Sandercock

First Assistant Secretary, International Division, Department of Education, Skills and Employment