As Chair of the Universities Accord Expert Panel, Professor Mary O'Kane mapped out a nation-building program of reforms that are set out in the Accord, including the establishment of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. As the first ATEC Commissioner, Professor O'Kane helped build the Commission and lift the words off the page to make them real. Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt also served on the Universities Accord Expert Panel and as the ATEC's inaugural First Nations Commissioner.
Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP, said:
"I want to thank them both for helping to establish the interim Australian Tertiary Education Commission. The Accord is a blueprint for reform of our higher education system for the next decade and beyond, and Mary O'Kane is the architect of that and more. Mary O'Kane didn't just design the Accord as the first ATEC Commissioner she has helped build it. She has helped to lift the words off the page and make them real."
Read the full media release on the Minister's media centre website.