Expert Panel

Appointed by the Minister for Higher Education and Skills, the expert panel conducted public feedback sessions on the recommendations in the VET Fee and Funding Review.

Dr Peter Veenker

Dr Peter Veenker’s professional experience spans the private and public sectors in the fields of finance, management and education, including extensive experience in vocational education and training.

Dr Veenker was the Chief Executive of the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), and prior to this held appointments as the Chief Executive and Director with the East Gippsland Institute of TAFE, Swinburne University of Technology TAFE and Gordon Institute, Geelong. 

Dr Veenker was Foundation Chair of TAFE Directors Australia Ltd and first Australian president of the Postsecondary International Network.  He has also served on a number of national and state boards, including Australian Training Products, the Council of Adult Education (Victoria) and the Vocational Education and Training Authority, Canberra.

Dr Veenker is currently a consultant in governance and finance, and is also Chair of a regional statutory authority working in natural resource management and Director of the Gippsland Coastal Board.

Professor Gerald Burke

Professor Gerald Burke's main work is research on education and employment and on the financing of education.

He is a member of Skills Australia, set up in 2008 to provide advice to the Commonwealth Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations on workforce development and skill needs.  He was formerly executive director and a professorial fellow in the Monash University-ACER Centre for the Economics of Education and Training (CEET) and now has an adjunct appointment as a professor in education.

From 2007 to 2010 he was a member of the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority. Prior to that appointment he was chair of the Victorian Qualifications Authority and a member of the Victorian Learning and Employment Skills Commission and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. He is a member of the editorial board of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research. He has also undertaken consultancies for government and non-government agencies in Australia and overseas.