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Cultural Competence in Higher Education Conference 2024: Provocations, Policy, and Practice
Dates: 27th-28th November 2024
Venue: Susan Wakil Health Building
The University of Sydney NSW 2006
Please note: Ticket sales and registrations are now closed.
The National Centre for Cultural Competence at the University of Sydney is pleased to announce its upcoming conference Cultural Competence in Higher Education: Provocations, Policy, and Practice.
The conference will provide a valuable opportunity to share knowledge, experiences, and showcase innovative approaches to cultural competence across the sector.
The overarching theme of this conference is cultural competence and its intersection with the higher education sector from multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary, and Indigenous Knowledges perspectives and will focus broadly on provocations, policy, and practice.
The conference will explore:
- current critical and provocative issues in theory and practice of cultural competence
- organisational policies and frameworks
- innovative approaches to the practice of cultural competence in Higher Education
Keynote speakers:
Professor Jennifer Barrett is a proud Dunghutti woman and is Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous (Academic) within the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Strategy and Services portfolio, Sydney University.
Over the past decade Professor Barrett has worked across several areas at the University of Sydney and became Professor of Museum and Heritage Studies in January 2020.
Most recently she was Director of the National Centre for Cultural Competence (NCCC), previously as the Director of the University’s Culture Strategy, and prior to that as Pro Dean, Academic in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).
Core to her professional history has been involvement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, colleagues and leaders, in teaching, research, external engagement and leadership roles in the arts, collecting and cultural sectors.
Dr Elliott Spaeth is an award-winning consultant, lecturer, and facilitator in the area of inclusive leadership, particularly in relation to disability and neurodiversity in Higher Education.
Through non-judgemental, bespoke facilitation, Elliott works with leaders and educators to help them define their strategic goals and values, and to create adaptable practices, processes, and policies that embody those goals by empowering diverse stakeholders to thrive. These principles are as relevant to learning and teaching as they are to leadership and communication more broadly.
This facilitation is enabled by Elliott's compassionate communication skills; professional experience in learning technologies, clinical psychology research, and pedagogy; and lived experience of marginalisation as a queer, disabled, neurodivergent person.
Dr Virginia Mapedzahama (PhD, Sociology) is the Member Education Director at Diversity Council Australia. She is a first-generation Black African migrant woman and a critical race Black feminist scholar in the broader field of sociology of difference. Her research interest is in understanding the social construction of all categories of difference. She explores this interest in the context of subjective experiences of race, racism and ethnicity, migration, diaspora, Blackness and Black subjectivities, sexuality, hybridity, intersectionality and gendered violence. Virginia has published extensively in these areas as well as the broader fields of cross-cultural identities, African feminisms, post-colonial feminisms, the new African diaspora in Australia and African women diaspora.
Associate Professor Gabrielle Russell leads the Centre’s work in progressing a deeper understanding of the theory and practice of cultural competence and has been instrumental in creating effective resources and research to cultivate cultural competence at the personal and organisational level.
Associate Professor Russell undertakes multi-disciplinary research which explores how to develop cultural competence from diverse perspectives and positions and how to facilitate a deeper and sustainable understanding and practice of individual, systemic, and organisational leadership, and transformative change.
Further information
Call for papers opens: 3 June 2024
Registrations open: 11 July 2024
Call for papers closes: 6 September 2024
Early bird registration closes: 25 October 2024
Registration closes: 17 November 2024
Conference commences: 27 November 2024
Abstracts submissions are now closed.
Full catering will be provided. Please provide your dietary requirements upon registration.
Please note that Humanitix charges a 2.5% booking fee for all ticket orders. 100% of the booking fee costs go to charity.
| Group | Early Bird Pricing | Full Price |
| Standard Entry Includes two-day conference entry and cocktail party |
$875 | $975 |
| University of Sydney Staff Discount* |
$600 | $700 |
| Community Organisations* Not-for-profits, NGOs and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations |
$600 | $700 |
| Student* | $400 | $400 |
| Single Day Entry Ticket does not include access to cocktail party event. |
$300 | $400 |
*For University of Sydney Staff, Community Organisations and Student Discount codes, please contact nccc.conference@sydney.edu.au
You will receive a confirmation email and a receipt. Please check in with our staff at our conference booth to receive your conference badge when you arrive.
Veriu - Camperdown, Veriu - Broadway, and Veriu - Central are offering 15% off all room types for our conference guests. Please use code USCC24 when booking your room. Please contact Veriu with any queries.
Rydges Camperdown is offering 10% off their Bed & Breakfast rooms for our conference guests. Please contact Rydges Camperdown with any queries.
The University's Sustainability Strategy outlines our commitment to reducing the environmental impact of traveling to our campuses and travelling on University-related business. It includes targets to improve active travel to our campuses and to encourage our staff and students to cut their emissions contribution by travelling using more sustainable means.
Whether traveling to our campuses or travelling domestically and internationally on University-related business, staff, students, and visitors are encouraged to consider the impacts of their travel.
For travel to our campuses, consider the options for:
Terms and Conditions
We hope everyone who registers for the conference will be able to attend. However, we understand that extenuating circumstances do occur. Our cancellation and refund policies are as follows:
Cancellations received on, or before, the 27th of October 2024 (11.59 pm AEST) will be refunded in full.
Cancellations will only be considered when received in writing to nccc.conference@sydney.edu.au.
Cancellations after the 27th of October 2024 will not receive a refund unless the cancellation is due to illness and where a valid medical certificate has been provided. Please provide the request and medical certificate in writing to nccc.conference@sydney.edu.au as soon as possible and prior to the 27th of November.
No refunds for any reason will be issued once the Conference has begun (27th November 2024).
Tickets are transferable. Please contact the NCCC at nccc.conference@sydney.edu.au if you would like to transfer your ticket to someone else.
The NCCC and the University of Sydney reserve the right to make alterations to the conference program, venue, and timings at any time. In the event of it being found necessary, for whatever reason, to postpone or change the dates of the conference, the NCCC and the University of Sydney shall not be liable for any expenditure, damage, or loss incurred by the delegate. The NCCC and The University of Sydney accept no responsibility for loss of monies incurred by delay or cancellation.
The NCCC recommends that all participants procure their own travel insurance.
Views expressed by speakers at the conference are their own. The University of Sydney and the NCCC cannot accept liability for any advice given, or views expressed, by any speaker, or delegate, at the conference or in any material provided to delegates.
The following University of Sydney policy will also apply: Charter of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom
The NCCC will gather and record information necessary to facilitate your registration and related correspondence. The University will manage your personal information as required by the Privacy and Personal Information Protection 1998 (NSW), as well as the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) and international privacy laws where applicable. Further information about the University’s privacy statement is here.
The following University of Sydney policies will also apply:
Emergencies and personal safety
If you have any questions, please contact the NCCC at nccc.conference@sydney.edu.au
Header image: Cornel Ozies