Professor Peter Coaldrake AO appointed as TEQSA Commissioner

TEQSA has announced the appointment of Emeritus Professor Peter Coaldrake AO as a Commissioner. The appointment, made by the Hon Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Education, is for a period of five years.

TEQSA Chief Commissioner Professor Nick Saunders, in welcoming Professor Coaldrake’s appointment, said “Professor Coaldrake brings a wealth of experience to TEQSA, drawn from his extensive national and international higher education service and leadership; and his comprehensive understanding of Australia’s higher education sector, quality assurance and regulatory standards. His expertise will support the agency in protecting students and the reputation of the Australian higher education sector as we continue to work through the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Professor Coaldrake has a distinguished record in higher education, having completed his almost 15-year term as Vice-Chancellor and CEO of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in December 2017. A dual Fulbright scholar, he is also a former chair of both Universities Australia and the governing board of the OECD’s then higher education group IMHE.  

In October 2018 Professor Coaldrake was appointed by the Education Minister, the Hon Dan Tehan MP, to conduct a review into the Higher Education Provider Category Standards. In 2018 he also undertook two separate reviews for the Queensland government: one dealing with the present and future Queensland public sector workforce, and the other of the future of vocational education, training and skilling in central-western Queensland.

Professor Coaldrake is currently the Chair of the Board of the Queensland Performing Arts Trust, and a Board Member of the Queensland Community Foundation. Upon accepting his appointment as a Commissioner of TEQSA, Professor Coaldrake is stepping down from two other roles, as Chair of Jobs Queensland and as an external Council member of the University of Newcastle.  

Professor Coaldrake will join existing TEQSA Commissioners Professor Nick Saunders AO, Emeritus Professor Joan Cooper and Emeritus Professor Cliff Walsh.

Along with responsibility for TEQSA’s regulatory decisions, the Commissioners, as TEQSA’s Accountable Authority, are also responsible for setting the strategic directions of the agency, governance, financial management, performance reporting and its regulatory approach.

Media enquiries 

Bryan Allchin, Assistant Director, Communications: comms@teqsa.gov.au, 0437 143 012