Strengthening Student Voice at HEDx Conference
Reflections by Belinda Brear, Coordinator, Student Voice Australasia Coordinator
Student Voice Australasia (SVA) was proud to support and attend the 2026 HEDx Disruption Through Connection Conference at the University of Technology Sydney this week. Across two days, students, educators and leaders explored a shared challenge: how do we create University 2.0 and learning that is truly fit for the future?
This year, students were involved in every session in meaningful ways. The message we heard across two days from students was clear- student voice must be embedded into how institutions design, decide and lead.
Designing with Students
In the opening session, Chloe Ferreira (University of Technology Sydney Elected Student Council Members and SVA Steering Committee Member) set the tone:
Students are the drivers of their own education.
The following presentations reinforced the need to design for today’s learners, navigating rapid change, new technologies and increasing complexity. Professor KC Chua (Singapore Institute of Technology) was a highlight in pointing to examples to lifelong reskilling needing to be the new norm.
Power and Partnership
Dr Sasha Thackaberry‑Voinovich (Newstate University) challenged Australian institutions to reflect on whether students feel safe to question and shape their learning experiences. Creating this environment requires understanding the student journey first-hand (even test-driving) and intentionally reducing barriers to participation.
Elevating Student Voice
On Day 1 HEDx’s first ever student-led panel marked an important step towards authentic student leadership.
Day 2 discussions continued to ground these ideas in lived experience. Students spoke openly about the pressures they are facing, including cost of living, housing and financial stress as well as issues such as food and period poverty.
Neeve Ann Nagle (UTS Students’ Association President and National Union of Students NSW State Branch President) emphasised the importance of genuine engagement:
Leaving the door open for conversations is so important- tokenism is not OK and students know when the engagement is not genuine.
Gazzal Duggal (UniSQ nursing student and SVA Committee Member) reinforced that student voice must go further:
It should be embedded in the institutional DNA, while also cautioning against framing students as “customers” and instead valuing the
relationship between teachers and students.
Many agreed on the limitations of current governance models, noting that relying on a small number of student representatives’ places significant pressure on individuals and cannot alone capture the diversity of student experience.
What’s next?
For SVA, our connection with HEDx reflects a shared commitment to ensuring student voice is recognised as a driver of meaningful change.
UQ student and podcast co-host Ben Roden-Cohen closed the conference with a call for action- for students to design the next HEDx Conference agenda! We’re looking forward to seeing students continue to engage in meaningful conversations that matter- and at the HEDx Student Experience Podcast we will continue to explore these topics.
You can hear for yourself all the HEDx conference sessions which will be released over the coming weeks. We will share these insights with our network as they become available on LinkedIn, helping to translate these discussions into practical action across the sector.