Sydney Roundtable Explores the Future of Trust and Identity in Higher Education and Research

On 16 September, the AAF hosted its Advancing Trust and Identity in Research Roundtable in Sydney, bringing together senior leaders and experts from across the higher education and research sector. Held as part of the CAUDIT Spring Members Meeting and the AHECS 2025 Cybersecurity Summit, the breakfast session provided a collaborative forum to discuss the evolving challenges and opportunities in trust and identity.

The roundtable sparked meaningful dialogue that will inform future strategies and roadmaps for the sector. Attendees explored how trust and identity frameworks can adapt to support secure, seamless collaboration in an increasingly digital research environment.

Expert Panel

The session featured insights from a distinguished panel of sector leaders:

• Charlsey Pearce, CEO, MortarCAPS Higher Learning Data Standard
• Greg Sawyer, CEO, CAUDIT
• Dima Postnikov, Head of Identity Strategy and Architecture, connectID, AusPayPlus
• Karl Sellmann, Chair, AHECS
• Tracy Baylis, Head of Operations and Strategy, AURIN
• John Scullen, Head of Trust and Identity Strategy and Futures, AAF
• Margie Jantti, Deputy CEO, AAF

Key Themes

Discussions focused on:

• Strengthening trust frameworks to enable secure data sharing and collaboration.
• Addressing cybersecurity challenges in higher education.
• Building identity strategies that support innovation and interoperability.

Who Attended

The event attracted CIOs, CISOs, national research infrastructure leaders, and AAF collaborators, reflecting the importance of trust and identity across the sector.

Looking Ahead

This Sydney roundtable marks the beginning of a national series. AAF will host similar sessions in other states to continue shaping the future of trust and identity.

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Enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).