ACARA is governed by the ACARA Board, which includes the Chair, the Deputy Chair, 1 member nominated by the Australian Government Minister for Education, 1 member nominated by the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC), 1 member nominated by Independent Schools Australia (ISA), and 8 members, each of whom is nominated by a different state or territory education minister.
ACARA Board
Chair
Derek Scott is the CEO | Principal of Haileybury with schools in Melbourne and Darwin and programs in China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Derek is one of Australia’s most highly regarded education leaders. He is on the Federal Government’s International Education Council, the Victorian Government’s International Education Expert Advisory Group and is the Chair of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria. He was also one of four members on the panel conducting a review of Initial Teacher Education in Australia in 2021. He has an extensive background in curriculum development and prior to joining the teaching profession had a career as a journalist.
Derek Scott was awarded the Australian Principal of Year at the 2019 Australian Education Awards.
Professor Leslie Loble AM
Deputy Chair
Leslie Loble is Industry Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, a Fellow of the Paul Ramsay Foundation, Chair of the Australian Network for Quality Digital Education, Co-Chair of the Centre for Policy Development’s Council for Early Childhood Development and a Board member of the Australian Education Research Organisation, among other appointments.
Leslie previously served as Deputy Secretary in NSW Education, leading strategy, reform and innovative delivery across schooling, early childhood and tertiary education. She established the influential Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation and the award-winning Centre for Learning Innovation.
Nationally, Leslie was long-term Chair of the Schools Policy Group, which supports education ministers in key education policy reforms. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2022, named one of Australia’s top 50 school education innovators in 2019 and awarded the Australian Financial Review Top 100 Women of Influence in 2013 for her impact on Australian public affairs. Leslie holds degrees from Harvard University and Cornell University.