Co-designing Australia’s graduate workforce for an AI-transformed economy

Eora / Sydney
10-11 June, 2026

Overview

Australia is at a turning point in graduate employability. As AI reshapes entry-level work, tasks traditionally performed by new graduates are being automated or redesigned. Employers are accelerating skills-based hiring, prioritising AI fluency, digital capability and human skills, while graduate employment outcomes soften and underemployment rises. The traditional promise that a degree secures a career is under pressure.

The Graduate Employability & Future Skills Summit brings together higher education, employers and government to co-design Australia’s graduate workforce for an AI-transformed economy. From curriculum redesign and work-integrated learning to micro-credentials and stronger skills signalling, the summit will redefine what job-ready means in the AI era.

Together, we will close the graduate skills gap, strengthen employability outcomes and build a workforce equipped to thrive alongside AI.

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Advisory Board

Our program is developed in close collaboration with our advisory board, who are actively involved in shaping the agenda, identifying key topics and speakers, and ensuring the content reflects real-time challenges faced by the sector.

Featured Speakers

Patrick Kidd

Chief Executive Officer

Future Skills Organisation

Lauren Stanton

Oceania Talent Leader

Mitchell Lea

Director, Strategic Workforce Development,

Premier's Department NSW

Shejnaze Rama

People and Culture Director

AECOM

Dorothy Hisgrove

National Managing Partner People & Inclusion

KPMG Australia

Professor Attila Brungs

Vice-Chancellor and President

UNSW Sydney

Mish Eastman

Deputy Vice Chancellor VE & Vice President

RMIT University

Ben Leech

Branch Head, Digital Capability Planning

Digital Transformation Agency

View Full Speaker Lineup

Why Attend

Accelerate graduate success with practical solutions and collaborative insights

Who Will Benefit from Attending?

Join senior leaders from universities, employers, and policymakers transforming graduate pathways for an AI-enabled economy.

Why attend?

Understand how delivery decisions will shape Western Sydney’s growth

Hear directly from state and local government leaders, utilities and delivery agencies on how sequencing, approvals and coordination across transport, utilities and precincts will determine project timelines and development certainty.

Learn from real-world Western Sydney case studies

Gain practical insights from major projects including the M12 Motorway, Western Sydney Freight Spine, Mamre Road Manufacturing Hub, stormwater delivery programs and fast-tracked private masterplan approvals.

Align your strategy with Western Sydney’s transport and infrastructure pipeline

Get clarity on the status, timelines and critical path for the Metro, airport roads, freight corridors, utilities upgrades and enabling infrastructure shaping the Western Parkland City.

See how infrastructure is being used as an economic enabler

Understand how industrial land, digital infrastructure, data centres and advanced manufacturing are being activated to drive jobs, private investment and long-term regional productivity.

Understand how funding and financing decisions translate into delivery

Gain insight into how infrastructure funding frameworks, PPPs and capital partnerships are being structured to improve sequencing certainty, reduce delivery risk and accelerate precinct activation across Western Sydney.

Explore the program

Download the brochure to explore the full two-day agenda, speaker line-up, keynote sessions and how education, industry and government can collaborate to equip graduates with the skills needed to succeed in an AI-transformed workforce.

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Sponsorship Opportunities

Explore sponsorship and exhibition opportunities connecting you with decision-makers across across education, employers and government driving Australia’s future workforce.

Download Prospectus

From funding to delivery certainty - How modern financing frameworks and capital partnerships are accelerating precinct delivery.