THE PETER NOONAN Award

For the best policy translation research abstract 2026

Peter Noonan Award for The best policy translation research abstract 2026 – Megan Turner

Peter Noonan was a Professorial Fellow and Emeritus Professor at the Mitchell Institute and the Centre for Research on International Education Systems at Victoria University in Melbourne. Professor Noonan was also an Honorary Senior Fellow in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne in the LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership.

Professor Noonan played a major role in shaping policy in higher education and vocational education and training in Australia for over 25 years as a researcher, senior public servant, consultant, and adviser to national and state governments.

His research interests were varied and included tertiary education funding, the opening up of higher education funding to private higher education institutions, options for reform of Australia’s income contingent loans system and the development of a more coherent tertiary education system in Australia across the higher education and VET sectors.

In 2022 – following his passing – the Peter Noonan Award for The best policy translation research abstract was established through the Mitchell Institute and AVETRA, and with the blessing of Peter Noonan’s family.

It is awarded to the author of an abstract submitted and accepted for presentation at the AVETRA conference. The criteria include:

• A research focus on VET policy and policy translation;
• The systemic impact of the research;
• Student experience as core value in research; and
• New or emerging researcher voice in the sector

On behalf of the Mitchell Institute and AVETRA, The Peter Noonan Award for The best policy translation research abstract 2026 is awarded to Megan Turner for the abstract

Securing Australia’s Future: Lessons from Nordic VET Systems for a Sustainable Vocational Education Ecosystem

Megan Turner delivered her presentation at the 2026 AVETRA conference.