Writer
Don Perlgut
Don Perlgut is the former CEO of Community Colleges Australia, a national advocacy organisation for not-for-profit adult and community education providers. He holds a PhD in media/communications from Macquarie University, a Masters of City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley and a BA from Cornell University. He worked as a consultant to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development prior to moving to Australia many years ago.
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Damaged climate: Australia must learn from deadly Northern Rivers floods
“What happened here in the Northern Rivers [in 2022] with Lismore as the epicentre has to be recognised as one of the worst disasters the nation has ever seen,” says Lismore City Councillor Elly Bird. The scale of the floods was immense: Australia’s “biggest natural disaster since Cyclone Tracy in 1974, the second-costliest event in Continue reading »
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The missing link in Australia’s climate change adaptation strategy: Social infrastructure
We have “likely crossed a tipping point for Australia’s temperate broadleaf and mixed forests when a critical level of heat or drought triggers a massive, devastating event. … Climate change is driving a new era of ‘unnatural disasters’ – and as a country we are not prepared to cope.” – Australian Climate Council, 2021. Continue reading »
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Australia needs to stop using the term “VET Market”
Education should not be seen as a “buy and sell” commodity. Continue reading »
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“Long tail” of COVID-19 impacts disadvantaged Australians’ education most
COVID-19 disproportionately impacts disadvantaged and vulnerable Australians. What does that mean for their engagement in post-secondary vocational education and training (VET)? Continue reading »
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Time to get serious about ventilation and air quality in training and post-secondary education
Australia is not doing enough to improve clean air in post-secondary education and training environments. Given the COVID-19 pandemic will be with us for a very long time to come, training providers and universities need to invest more in ventilation and air quality to ensure that students can learn in the safest environments possible. Continue reading »
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A year of living dangerously for vocational education and training in Australia
Will the Covid-19 Omicron variant devastate vocational education and training (VET) again in early 2022? Early indicators are not good. Continue reading »
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What ‘On the Beach’ tells us about COVID-19 in Australia
By world standards, Australia has achieved an enviable insularity from COVID-19, an effective and almost total community elimination protected by our island status, our placid and astonishingly well-behaved populace, and our location in an almost forgotten corner of the world. Yet there is a history of Australian survival in the face of universal annihilation, one Continue reading »
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Vocational Education Trainers need vaccination priority – economic recovery may depend on it
Face-to-face teaching is vital for VET students, who are often from a lower socio-economic background and are most affected by the digital divide. As getting them back into the classrooms is a priority, their trainers should also be considered a priority group for the Covid-19 vaccine. Continue reading »
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What does a Biden presidency mean for Australian post-secondary education?
President-elect Joe Biden’s anticipated quick alteration to American policy on climate change has received the greatest media attention in Australia because of its anticipated impact here, what about education? Although the election appeared to be a “policy free zone”, many of the Democratic Party’s policies on education represent a significant change from the past four Continue reading »
