IEP's flagship 'anti-conference' returns for its third year, tackling the change reshaping employability.

After the incredible success of 2025, the IEP Summit Australia is back for its third year — bigger, bolder, and more impactful than ever. Sponsored by The Busy Group and Beam, this year's theme couldn't be more timely: Thriving Through Change – Talent, Technology, and the Future Workforce.

If you work anywhere near employability, recruitment, or workforce development, this is the one day of the year built entirely around the conversations that matter — with the people who can actually move them forward.

Let's be clear about what this isn't. It's not a lecture-hall conference where you watch slides scroll past and file out with a tote bag and no new thinking. The IEP calls it an "anti-conference" for a reason — a high-energy, future-focused day of real conversations, actionable insights, and connections that actually change how you work.

What's On the Day

🗣️ The Changing Face of a Candidate (10:15am)

Speaker: Bernard Salt, the Demographics Group | Panel: Rob Murphy FIEP, Tamika Biddlecombe FIEP

Best selling author and one of Australia’s leading social commentators, Bernard Salt, sets the scene on Australia's shifting workforce, followed by a panel on the pressures facing young people, the rise of mature-age participation, and what genuine workforce inclusion looks like — with perspectives spanning youth, mature-age employment and neurodiversity.

🔥 The Changing Nature of Recruitment (11:30am–1:00pm & 1:45pm–2:45pm)

Speakers: Rasmus Rossi FIEP, Julie Watkins & Jodi Haydon | Panel: David Scragg

A debate-style session pitting private sector HR against employment services, tackling the questions every employability professional is wrestling with right now: what AI is actually doing to recruitment, skills vs. qualifications, rising candidate flexibility expectations, and how we support people further from the labour market. After lunch, the same panel turns to the retention crisis inside employment services — staff churn, patchy training, and underinvestment in skills.

🛠️ Skills, Competencies & Professionalisation Workshop (3:00pm)

Speaker: Beth Bundy

A hands-on session built on IEP's latest skills gaps research. Your input here will directly feed into IEP's ongoing work defining core competencies for the profession — a genuine chance to help shape where this industry is headed.

🍽️ Dinner, Reflection & a Laugh (from 6:00pm)

An evening of dinner, light entertainment, and the Fellow of the Year toast — hosted by a distinguished cybersecurity leader whose identity stays under Chatham House Rules until the night itself.

Why You Should Be There

Building on the success of 2025 and the record-breaking IEP Summit UK, this year's Summit also champions global collaboration, with international colleagues bringing broader perspectives to the sector's strategic agenda. Whether you're in front-line employment services, corporate HR, policy or workforce strategy, this is your platform to:

• Connect with top industry leaders and forward-thinking peers
• Explore cutting-edge policy, practice and innovation
• Advance your career with insights you can act on
• Influence the future of employability in Australia

"At a time of major reform across employment services and the skills sector, there has never been a more important time for professionals to come together and learn from one another. The IEP Australia Summit provides a rare opportunity to hear from sector leaders, explore practical solutions and connect with colleagues from across Australia and New Zealand." — Zac Ashkanasy, Principal, Global Head of Higher Education, Nous Group

What Will You Take Away from the Day?

Beyond the discussions, debates and workshops, attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the forces reshaping employability, recruitment and workforce participation; fresh ideas they can apply within their own organisations; meaningful connections with peers and sector leaders; and a stronger sense of how they can adapt, influence and thrive through change. 

The Summit is designed to help you make sense of what's changing, discover practical approaches being used across the sector, and return to work with new perspectives and renewed confidence.

Want to pay by invoice or in up to 3 instalments? Contact karin.ridgeway@iemployability.org to arrange, or if you have any questions about IEP Summit Australia.