The transformative power of education is widely recognised. A more robust national evidence base for effective policy and program development will assist in meeting national education objectives and lift national productivity. Yet, collecting the data and building the evidence base with meaningful information to support decision making is mired in complexity. The panel will reference a small scale pilot in a regional Tasmanian community to facilitate engagement in a discussion of the broader challenge for research centres, policy makers, and education systems.

A multidisciplinary panel of senior government and university leaders, as well as experienced and early career researchers will share their perspectives on the impediments and opportunities to leverage data to develop a robust evidence base in Australia. Rather than a series of formal presentations we will encourage a constructive dialogue and discussion between participants and panel members to examine how to drive an improvement agenda across education sectors.