Academic Leadership Award

Generously sponsored by IELTS

2025 Winner

Academic Leadership Award

Award for Academic Leadership Background

English Australia and IELTS would like to recognise and celebrate those who make an outstanding contribution to quality in ELICOS through their work as an academic manager with the Award for Academic Leadership.

English Australia and IELTS recognise the key role that academic managers play in the overall quality of ELICOS programs. Academic managers are responsible for curriculum and program development and management, teacher employment, support and development, as well as student outcomes, support and satisfaction. A good academic manager has a combination of skills, knowledge and personal qualities that can have a major impact on an ELICOS institution and to the student experience there.

What is outstanding academic leadership?

English Australia and IELTS see an outstanding academic leader as someone who goes beyond their job description to inspire and support their staff and students to achieve their goals within the ‘system’ of their college and also within the local and/or national context of ELICOS.

When needed, a good leader can be directive, authoritative, democratic and a coach, among other things. We like these two definitions of leadership:

‘Management works in the system; leadership works on the system’ (Stephen Covey)
‘Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things’ (Peter Drucker)

How to nominate for this Award

Nominations for the 2026 Academic Leadership Award will open in March 2026.

Prize

The winner receives: an engraved trophy; profiling on the English Australia website and in English Australia news and social media; and use of the English Australia award winner logo on their email signature.

Criteria

The winner shows outstanding academic leadership through demonstrating skills, knowledge and qualities that underpin academic leadership; leading and inspiring others within their college as well as in the broad context of ELICOS; and contributing to the enhancement of ELICOS student outcomes.

These criteria can be evidenced in the nominee’s approach to the following areas:

academic culture;
quality curriculum;
management of staff;
student support;
operational management;
strategic relationships.

Eligibility/Conditions

The Award is open to an academic manager/Director of Studies/Assistant Director of Studies/Head Teacher/ Senior Teacher/Program Manager at any organisation registered on CRICOS to deliver ELICOS in Australia. The nominee has been working at the nominating centre for at least one year prior to the time of nomination.

The nomination for the Award is proposed by any staff member (other than the nominated academic manager) and the application must be supported by the Director, or another authorised representative, of that organisation and signed by the nominee as accepting the nomination.

Current members of the English Australia Board are not eligible for consideration, however staff working for colleges represented by English Australia Board members may apply. Winners of other English Australia awards are welcome to apply for this award. Previous winners of this award are eligible to apply for this award however cannot nominate projects or initiatives that have already won an English Australia Award.

2025 Winners

In 2025 we have two winners for this award as the judges found it impossible to separate these two nominees.

The joint winners are:

Paula Dimmell, Manager Learning & Teaching, University of Adelaide ELC

Paula has been working at the University of Adelaide’s English Language Centre since 2006, most recently in her role as Manager Learning and Teaching. Paula brings an abundance of positive energy to her staffroom and her people-centred approach stood out to the award judges, particularly in how she engages her team in thoughtful problem-solving and experimentation, and her championing of staff professional development. Paula’s team value her ability to approach complex challenges with clarity and understanding and her nomination demonstrated her fresh perspectives on addressing perennial issues in Direct Entry Programs, especially her initiative to redesign the curriculum to better support staff and students. Paula has been the Convenor of the English Australia Academic Managers’ SIG for the past year, and she championed the development and implementation of the new Academic Managers SIG Mentorship Program that was launched in 2024.

Brooke Donnelly, Academic Head, Embedded English UNSW College

Brooke has worked in academic leadership at UNSW College since 2022. She has impressive technical expertise and academic content knowledge, especially in assessment and curriculum design. Brooke’s leadership by example has helped shift organisational culture at UNSW College in a positive direction and her commitment to staff development is impressive. Brooke focuses on upskilling her team and fostering a culture of continuous professional learning among her staff. Brooke’s sustained contribution to the ELICOS sector is notable, especially through her involvement in the UECA Integrated Assessment project and her role as Deputy Convenor of the English Australia Assessment Special Interest Group.