Our Leadership team

Board of Directors

Polytechnic Institute Australia is an Australian Proprietary Company, Limited by Shares formed under the Corporations Act 2001 with a Board of Directors that includes a majority of external members. The independence of the Board of Directors provides a mechanism to separate the ownership and governance of the Company from the management of PIA day-to-day operations. The Board of Directors is responsible for the strategic planning to ensure that PIA continues to meet its regulatory and community obligations and responsibilities.

Professor Christine Slade (Chair)

Emeritus Professor Christina Slade has extensive experience, both as an executive and board member, in education, digital innovation and the cultural and creative industries. She was Vice -Chancellor and Chief Executive of Bath Spa University in the UK where she represented the university sector in Westminster and Brussels. Prior to that she was the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at the City University London and Macquarie University’s Dean of Humanities. She was Professor of Media Theory with the University of Utrecht and the Head of the Creative Communication School at the University of Canberra.

Professor Slade’s board appointments include the Advisory Board of QS rankings, a UK based group, the National Art School and the Adelaide based Media Centre for Education Research (MCERA). She is on the Council of the Royal Society of NSW. She joined the Council of Charles Sturt University in 2019, and was seconded to serve as Rector of the University over 2021. While based in the UK she was Chair of University of Gibraltar’s Academic Board, Trustee and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Trustee of The Royal High School Bath and the Holburne Museum, Director and Chair of the Education, Heritage and Culture Sector Table with the Iraq Britain Business Council

Professor Slade has a PhD in philosophy of language and logic from The Australian National University, a Diploma of Education from the University of New England and qualifications in Spanish, French and Arabic. She has led major European Union funded research grants and has authored numerous articles, books and given presentations to the media, government and commercial organisations

Mr Michael Abraham

Mr Abraham is currently the global financial controller for one of Australia’s top 25 fastest growing companies.
During his tenure Mr Abraham has driven efficiencies and reduced risk across the company, against the background of a company growing exponentially. He is an experienced financial controller working across many sectors over the past 19 years, and has a demonstrated ability to adapt to a variety of environments, effectively restructuring people and processes to optimise efficiency and output. He has specialist knowledge in complex financial model development. Commercially minded, Mr Abraham is a strong negotiator with proven success in obtaining attractive contract terms. He has successfully lead international and interstate business establishments and restructures, and specialises in utilising both financial and non-financial data in order to manage risks. 

Academic Board

The Board of Directors delegates responsibility for academic policymaking, academic administration and oversight of the educational process pertaining to the operation of higher education courses to the Academic Board. The Academic Board is made up of a majority of external members and staff, with students as invitee to ensure that they have the opportunity to participate in academic governance.

Sally Robertson (Chair)

Professor Sally Robinson is an experienced academic leader who most recent focus has been on learning and teaching and student engagement. She is a registered nurse who served as the Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney for a number of year and prior as Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching). She successfully led the development and accreditation of the School’s curriculum for both internal and external accreditation. Notre Dame is recognised as having one of the best nursing schools in the country.

Sally served as Chair of the University Learning and Teaching Committee and the internal accreditation committee responsible for accreditation of courses and units for all disciplines at the University. As a result of her work, Sally was awarded Senior Fellowship with the Higher Education Academy in the UK.

Sally is currently serving on Academic Boards/Counsels at a number of institutions.

Dr Elly Thomson

Eloise Thomson is the Head of Program and senior lecturer for the Bachelor of Education programs at Melbourne Polytechnic in Melbourne, Australia. She has over 20 years experience in Higher Education and the delivery and governance of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs. Her research interests encompass early childhood, primary, and ITE contexts. Specifically, her work delves into early childhood education, collaborative practices, the use of technology in educational settings, and the development of initial teacher education programs

Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching) Kate Tran

Associate Professor Kate Tran has been a lecturer, educator and academic leader in higher education for over two decades. Her work in academia focuses on enhancing teaching and learning quality and academic integrity, and facilitating student development of language, academic, research and professional skills. She particularly interests in working with and supporting international students, especially those from countries where English is learnt as a foreign language (EFL) or second language (ESL). Kate has served and contributed to the Learning and Teaching Committees and Academic Boards at a number of Institutions. At PIA, Kate is the Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching).

Dr David Baxter

Dr David Baxter was a secondary school English teacher, head of department and North West regional consultant for the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education from 1975-1995. He then became a lecturer in English and literacy education for the University of New England until 2007 before moving to the Australian College of Physical Education (ACPE) in 2007 as Associate Dean and Acting Dean in 2012. His responsibilities there included chairing the Teaching and Learning Committee and serving on Academic Board. Since retiring from ACPE in 2013, he has done consultancy work with a range of private and public higher education providers in areas such as policy development and review, TEQSA registration and course accreditation and governance reviews.

Professor Geoff Morris

Dean Professor Geoff Morris has an extensive background in both the business world and in academia. Prior to his appointment at PIA he has spent almost 13 years in senior academic roles including Dean of Business at the University of Notre Dame and the Dean and Director of Learning & Teaching at Asia Pacific International College. Before joining academia, he had a successful business career involving senior leadership positions in public and private organisations including Sydney Water, Commonwealth Bank, HCF, Medibank Private, TAB and Australian Water Technologies. He has managed and delivered a number of large projects in Australia, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Geoff’s home discipline is economics with a bachelors degree from Sydney University. This was followed by postgraduate qualifications in management, leadership and higher education teaching.

Executive Management Committee

The authority of the Board of Directors derives from the Constitution of Polytechnic Institute Australia Pty Ltd. The Board of Directors has delegated authority to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PIA to manage the day-to-day operations of the organisation.

The CEO convenes the Executive Management Committee (EMC) as an advisory committee, that assists the CEO in the day-to-day running of PIA and the implementation of the PIA’s Strategic and Operational Plans.

The EMC consists of Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Compliance, Quality and Risk Manager, Dean and Marketing Manager.

Chief Executive Officer Ms Alessia Calabrese ceo@pia.edu.au

Chief Operating Officer Mr Amanjot Singh coo@pia.edu.au

Dean Professor Geoff Morris dean@pia.edu.au

Compliance, Quality and Risk Manager Dr David Morgan compliance@pia.edu.au