AAF at eResearch Australasia Research Conference 2026

Join the AAF at the eResearch Australasia Conference 2026, as we share insights on trust, identity and collaboration across five sessions and continue the conversation at the AAF booth. 

AAF is proud to participate in Australasia’s leading conference for the digital research community, taking place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 26–30 October 2026. 

Each year, the event brings together researchers, infrastructure providers, technologists, data specialists, librarians, software developers, policy makers and industry partners to explore how digital technologies are transforming research. 

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2026, the conference will be held under the theme Celebrating our Past – Shaping our Future, reflecting on two decades of progress while looking ahead to the next era of eResearch. 

As Australia’s trusted access and identity partner for research and education, the AAF will share practical insights from across the sector on research collaboration, research impact, federated identity, AI agents in research, persistent identifiers and the future of trust in research through Trust & Identity Australia. 

AAF presentations at eResearch Australasia 2026 

Members of the AAF team will present five sessions across the conference:

From Signals to Story: Defining Scalable Impact Tracking for National Research Infrastructure
Presenters: Ryan Paytes and Keith Brophy, AAF; Kelsey Druken, ACCESS-NRI; Rubbiya Ali, The University of Queensland Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis.
2 pm, Tuesday 27 October | Lindsay Hasset Room
Inviting researchers, infrastructure providers and policymakers to examine the challenges and opportunities of impact tracking across the research ecosystem.

When AI Agents Outnumber Users: The Future of Trust for Researcher Identity
Presenter: John Scullen
3.30 pm, Tuesday 27 October | Keith Miller Room
Exploring what trust and identity will look like as AI agents increasingly interact with research infrastructure and services. 

Celebrating 10 Years of ORCID Adoption in Australia: Strengthening Foundations for a PID-enabled Future
Presenter: Julie Toohey
11 am, Thursday 29 October | Olympic 2 Room
Reflecting on a decade of ORCID adoption across Australia and the role of persistent identifiers in supporting connected, trusted and interoperable research. 

From Policy to Practice: Lessons in Enabling Trusted Research Collaboration across GUARDIANS
Presenters: Poornima Mani and Ayana Menorca
11.40 am, Thursday 29 October | Olympic 1 Room
Exploring how trusted access and identity practices can help turn policy into secure and effective research collaboration. 

Beyond Login: How AAF and NIF Are Building Federated Trust for Imaging Research
Presenters: Keith Brophy, Anna Thompson and Shaila Gomez
2.20 pm, Thursday 29 October | Olympic 1 Room
Examining how AAF and the National Imaging Facility (NIF) are working together to strengthen trusted access for Australia’s imaging research community. 

Visit us at the AAF booth 

Whether you’re interested in trusted access, federated identity, ORCID, research collaboration or emerging challenges in digital trust, we’d love to connect. 

Visit our team at the AAF booth during the conference to discuss how trusted access and identity are helping enable secure and seamless research collaboration across Australia and beyond.

We’ll also be celebrating 10 years of ORCID in Australia, so come and join us in our celebrations.

Explore the full conference program on the eResearch Australasia website. 

We look forward to seeing you in Melbourne.