Oceania Updates – Creating Connectivity Across Our Region

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2026 ANZSSA Conference opening soon

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The Australian New Zealand Student Services Association (ANZSSA) Annual Conference celebrated 30 years in 2025. The 2025 conference, held in Auckland, New Zealand, brought together more than 300 delegates with a shared passion for student success. Keynotes included Dr Jared Tippets (Vice President for Student Affairs, Southern Utah University), who reimagined student success for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, and Dr Terrell Strayhorn, who focused on “the science and soul of belonging.”

 

The 2026 ANZSSA Conference, “Technology where it helps, humanity where it matters,” will be held in Melbourne, Australia, from 25–27 November 2026. A call for papers will be circulated shortly. Follow ANZSSA on LinkedIn for updates.

 

 

 

 

 

JANZSSA special issue advances sector dialogue on gender-based violence

Coinciding with the introduction of the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence in Australia (from January 2026), the Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association (JANZSSA) released its 2026 special issue, Addressing Gender-based Violence in Tertiary Institutions. This timely edition brings together 14 contributions examining the research, policy, and practice shaping how institutions prevent and respond to gender-based violence across Australasia and beyond.

Guest Editors Laura Burge, Friederike Gadow, and Elli Darwinkel curate a collection spanning regulatory frameworks, whole-of-institution approaches, student-led initiatives, and frontline practice. Together, the articles highlight both the complexity of the challenge and the growing maturity of the sector’s response.

This issue aims to support shared understanding and collective progress, offering insights that build common ground, surface key challenges, and identify opportunities for collaboration and change. Contributions explore themes such as aligning compliance with transformation, strengthening evaluation and accountability, supporting international students, embedding lived-experience expertise, and advancing prevention through education, sport, and social marketing initiatives.

 Read the open access special issue: Special Issue | Addressing Gender-based Violence in Tertiary Institutions | Published by JANZSSA - Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association

To mark the release, JANZSSA hosted a launch event featuring a panel of guest editors and authors, highlighting the implications of this work for policy, practice, and institutional leadership. The discussion reinforced the importance of coordinated, whole-of-institution approaches and the critical role of student services professionals in driving meaningful, sustained change.

Professional development for prospective authors

Through the Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association, ANZSSA continues to support the sector in our region and globally through targeted professional development for prospective authors and practitioners interested in publishing their work.

 Explore PD opportunities: https://janzssa.scholasticahq.com/pages/858-pd-resources

Upcoming sessions include:

• Want to Write About Your Practice? Ethics for Student Services Professionals, presented by Abbe Winter. This session provides practical guidance on when ethical approval is required, how to obtain it, and how to responsibly use program and student data in publications.

• Telling Impactful Stories with Data: Practical Guidance for Using Data in Your Writing, presented by Christine Devine. Designed for professional staff and first-time authors, this webinar offers grounded strategies for working with and presenting data to strengthen written arguments and communicate impact clearly.

These sessions are free and open to all prospective authors. Further details are available via the PD page, with registration for both sessions opening shortly.

Together, these sessions are intended to provide practical, accessible support for colleagues at all stages of their writing journey, helping to build confidence and capability in publishing practice-based work.