New Jobs and Skills Australia Commissioner

Professor Barney Glover AO, the current Vice-Chancellor and President of Western Sydney University, has been appointed the new Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA).

Professor Glover’s esteemed career includes significant dual-sector expertise and experience at the most senior levels of university management and business leadership. 

I congratulate Professor Glover on his appointment and look forward to his leadership in this critical time. His distinguished academic leadership and extensive experience make Professor Glover eminently qualified for the role.

His five-year term will begin in April 2024 and follows a rigorous merit-based selection process.

Jobs and Skills Australia was established by the Albanese Government to provide independent evidence and advice.

It plays a critical role in informing decisions to address Australia’s current and emerging workforce skills and training needs, such as the challenges in transformation to net zero, the rapidly growing care and support sector, digitisation and the growing need for digital skills.

Jobs and Skills Australia is also conducting:

•    Capacity studies for emerging and growing industries.
•    Research into priority groups experiencing disadvantage or exclusion in labour markets.
•    Workforce forecasting.
•    Identification of skills and labour imbalances and issues across the economy.
•    A study as part of the Government’s broader Migration Strategy to better analyse international student outcomes and pathways into the labour market, with deep tripartite consultation of unions, employers and training and education providers.

As JSA Commissioner, Professor Glover will be a trusted, independent source of expert advice on Australia’s current and future skills needs and lead JSA’s work on researching workforce trends, skills, and workforce needs.

The Commissioner will work closely with JSA’s tripartite partners including employers, unions, state and territory governments and education and training sectors to ensure JSA’s advice to government and stakeholders is high quality, balanced and incorporates a wide range of views.

Mr David Turvey, First Assistant Secretary of JSA, will continue to act as JSA Commissioner until Professor Glover commences his term in April. I thank him for his continued leadership and commitment.

I also thank Professor Peter Dawkins AO who led JSA through its interim establishment phase until October 2023.

Biography:

Professor Glover was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 2019 for distinguished service to tertiary education, professional associations and cultural organisations.

He also has significant experience in developing strong relationships with the vocational education sector and is well respected for his engagement with First Nations Australians and members of disadvantaged communities.

Professor Glover is currently:

•    Vice-Chancellor and President of Western Sydney University (since 2014)
•    The Australian Government representative on the University of the South Pacific Grants Committee
•    Chair of the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching Working Group
•    The Australia-based Patron of the Association for Tertiary Education Management

Professor Glover was also previously:

•    Vice-Chancellor of Charles Darwin University
•    Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research at the University of Newcastle
•    Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research and Development at Curtin University
•    Chair of Universities Australia (from 2015 to 2017)

Professor Glover has served on the boards of a range of corporate organisations and several state and national centres, covering areas such as health and medical research, energy, mineral exploration, and telecommunications.