When I sat down with Tom Gifford, I knew we’d end up talking about international education. What I didn’t quite expect was that we’d begin with a backpacker visa panic, a wrongly dated Qantas ticket, and one very stern airline employee who may, in her own quiet way, have changed the course of his life.

Because that’s the thing about conversations like this one. What starts as a chat about careers and universities quickly becomes something bigger. In Tom’s case, it’s a story that runs from Birmingham to Sydney, through the APY Lands of remote South Australia, into state government, on to the University of Adelaide, and eventually into a major leadership role at RMIT. Along the way, there are stories about service, community, mobility, ambition, and the very human moments that shape a life more than any carefully laid plan ever could.

Tom is thoughtful, grounded and refreshingly practical. He talks with real warmth about the communities he worked with early in his career, the complexity and energy of university life, and the challenge, and opportunity, of making student experiences better at scale. There’s also a fascinating thread running through this episode about admissions, AI, and what it might actually mean for universities to embrace change rather than simply talk about it.

In this episode, we get into:

• Tom’s very British backpacker arrival in Australia, and the airport moment that nearly went very differently

• working in remote South Australia with young Indigenous students preparing for employment opportunities

• the sense of community and care that left a lasting impression on him

• how a single cold email led to an unexpected role in South Australian state government

• the winding path into international education, and eventually into leadership at RMIT

• why admissions might be one of the most important, and most overlooked, parts of the student experience

• the way AI is already reshaping universities, from student support to leadership thinking

• why Delhi is one of Tom’s favourite places in the world, and what he loves about its energy and chaos

• the challenge of leading at scale while still keeping sight of the individual student journey

What I enjoyed most about this conversation is that Tom never sounds abstract, even when he’s talking about very big things. Whether it’s an admissions system, a team of 180, a walk through Delhi, or a memory from the outback, he brings it back to people. To service. To human potential. To that little spark that can change someone’s direction.

And maybe that’s what sits at the heart of this episode. Not just leadership, or strategy, or the future of universities, but the reminder that careers are often shaped in messy, unexpected ways, by landscapes, by timing, by risk, by luck, and by the people who decide to back us when they don’t have to.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Angelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

In this episode of the Koala News Global Horizons podcast, Rob Malicki and Dirk Mulder discuss the economic and policy backdrop shaping international education right now.

They unpack growing recession concerns, the role international education plays in local and national economies, and the gap between the public narrative around the sector and what the data may actually be telling us. They also look at the government’s delayed response to the international education inquiry, and a more positive initiative out of Victoria that connects international students with community through the AFL.

They’re then joined by Nico Chu from Sinorbis, who brings a practical perspective on what has changed in international student recruitment over the past few years. Nico talks about a market that is not simply shrinking, but becoming more competitive, more price-sensitive and more demanding. He also shares insights from recent research on student communication, including why speed matters, why fragmented communication causes real frustration, and why institutions can no longer rely on the old playbook if they want to convert student interest into enrolments.

Highlights include:

• recession concerns and what a contraction in international education could mean economically
• the difference between policy, perception and sector reality
• the government’s response to the long-running international education inquiry
• a Victorian initiative using AFL to build student inclusion and connection
• Nico Chu’s take on competition, conversion and the changing expectations of prospective students

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

Global Horizons is the OFFICIAL podcast of the AIEC... a real privilege for us since it is the "do not miss" event of the year. Check out the conference website at ⁠aiec.idp.com

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

When I sat down with Michelle Teasdale at UWA, looking out across Matilda Bay on one of those impossibly beautiful Perth days, I knew we’d have a good conversation. What I didn’t quite expect was just how far the conversation would travel.

What starts with a slightly-too-familiar international education story about lost luggage quickly opens out into something much richer: childhood in the Pilbara, an exchange to Germany at 16, opening up new student markets like Mongolia, reflections on leadership, and the strange, wonderful way curiosity can shape an entire life. Michelle is one of those people who makes you feel, almost immediately, that international education is still, at its core, about people. About listening. About being open to the world and to each other.

There’s also something beautifully full-circle in this episode. Michelle has spent so many years helping students step into the unknown, and now she’s watching her own daughters do the same, heading out into the world with roots, wings, and just enough independence to make it all interesting.

This is a conversation about travel, yes, but also about confidence, family, mentorship, leadership and what it means to stay curious, whether you’re sitting in a boardroom, on a plane, or in the middle of nowhere in the red dirt of Western Australia.

In this episode, we get into:

• what Michelle loves most about UWA, and why campus culture matters so much

• how international education has changed over two decades, and what hasn’t

• growing up in Tom Price and Karijini, with a childhood that feels almost mythic in retrospect

• going on exchange to Germany at 16 without speaking the language

• opening up Mongolia as a recruitment market, with no blueprint and no prior connections

• leadership, mentoring and the difference between listening to hear and listening to respond

• raising daughters who are now beginning their own international adventures

• why curiosity might be one of the most underrated qualities in both work and life

Michelle comes across in this conversation as grounded, thoughtful and quietly adventurous. She’s clearly someone who has grown alongside the sector itself, and who has managed to hold onto the human side of the work even as universities have become faster, bigger and more complex. I suspect a lot of listeners will hear parts of themselves in this one, whether it’s the early-career uncertainty, the love of travel, the challenge of leadership, or simply the joy of a really good conversation with someone who is genuinely interested in the world.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Angelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

Global Horizons is the OFFICIAL podcast of the AIEC... a real privilege for us since it is the "do not miss" event of the year. Check out the conference website at aiec.idp.com

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

Evidence levels are out, the “new to Australia” data paints a sharper picture of what’s really happening, Randwick Council blocks new student housing near UNSW, and Allianz Partners drops a standout student wellbeing report. Rob Malicki and Dirk Mulder unpack the implications, then bring in guest Sam Eid to talk through what the 2025 State of Student Healthcare Report reveals about student life in Australia right now.

In this episode:

• Evidence levels and the growing frustration with inconsistent visa outcomes
• “New to Australia” commencements down 18%, with VET and private providers hit hardest
• Randwick’s student housing moratorium, and why it pushes pressure into the rental market
• The State of Student Healthcare 2025 report, cost of living, meal skipping, and the healthcare knowledge gap
• A rare good-news milestone: Deakin graduating its first cohort from its GIFT City campus in India, and what that says about Australia’s offshore education footprint

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets.

For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

What begins as a lively conversation at AIEC quickly becomes something much deeper. In this episode, Tanya Perera reflects on migration, mentorship, values, and the quiet experiences that shape a life in international education. From arriving in Australia from Sri Lanka at 13, to navigating identity, leadership and belonging, Tanya brings warmth, insight and more than a little humour to a conversation that ranges from pub quizzes to professional purpose.

Highlights include:

• Tanya’s journey from Sri Lanka to Australia

• Her thoughtful take on purpose and profitability in international education

• The mentors who shaped her career

• Why she sees this sector as a place of inclusion and possibility

• A very entertaining explanation of how she became a pub quiz legend

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets.

For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

In this episode of the Koala News Global Horizons podcast, Dirk Mulder and Rob Malicki unpack another big week in international education.

They discuss the ongoing uncertainty around student visas, why inconsistent decision-making is creating real problems for providers, and what that could mean for institutions in the months ahead. They also touch on the Queensland Exporters Conference, some of the latest thinking around AI and productivity, new moves in student accommodation accreditation, and the value of initiatives like the upcoming Study Melbourne International Student Careers Fair.

They’re then joined by Ian Pratt from Lexis English, who brings a grounded, direct perspective from the front line of the sector. Ian talks about what the past five years have looked like for English language and vocational education providers, the commercial and human impact of policy instability, and why some of the biggest consequences of recent changes may not show up in the data for years. He also reflects on regional delivery, student demand, and why investment decisions are increasingly being pushed offshore.

Highlights include:

• why visa subjectivity is becoming such a major issue for providers

• what universities may need to prepare for if current patterns continue

• key takeaways from the Queensland Exporters Conference

• a new national approach to student accommodation quality

• Ian Pratt’s take on what recent policy settings are doing to ELICOS, VET and regional Australia

We are incredibly proud to be the ⁠⁠⁠OFFICIAL podcast of the AIEC Australian International Education Conference. This is the conference's 40th anniversary and is being held in Sydney, so it's going to be bigger and more impactful than ever... and AIEC not to be missed!

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host.

The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website. This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia’s unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets.

For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

Naresh Gulati has been in international education since the mid-90s. He helped build one of the largest education agencies in India, then founded BPO Intelligence, and now is driving the rise (pun intended) of Ascent One, a modular ecosystem designed to reduce admin chaos by helping systems talk to each other.

But instead of giving you a standard “here’s how I scaled” playbook, this conversation offers something more human: a philosophy for staying steady when business, and life, get messy.

It's a very personal conversation with one of Australian international education's leading entrepreneurs.

In this episode, we get into:

• Naresh’s early story, including failing Year 10, selling candles on the roadside, and what those years taught him about resilience

• Why he makes decisions largely on gut feel, and how that’s shaped every business he’s built

• The “leaf on the river” metaphor, float, bump into rocks, rest when you reach shore, then move again

Rob also brings in something many listeners will recognise, that 3am spiral where your brain turns into a to-do list machine. Naresh’s response is simple, practical, and surprisingly hard to argue with: stress rarely solves the problem, it usually just doubles it. From there, they explore the difference between happiness and contentment, why we get used to carrying tension, and what awareness actually looks like when you are in the middle of a tough season.

You’ll also hear:

• Why schools teach competitiveness, but rarely teach stress management, and what that costs later

• A grounded take on collaboration, and why “me versus them” thinking leaves opportunities on the table

• A personal COVID-era moment that reminds you everything changes, even the hardest chapters

If you want an episode that feels like a deep breath, without pretending the world is easy, this is it.

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Angelo Ablao.

Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website. This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets.

For guest suggestions and feedback, email podcast@globalsociety.com.au

Who would have guessed?

Out of the blue on Sunday, the Government announced the doubling of the cost of one of the key student-related visas. Dirk Mulder and Tracy Harris from The Koala News were right on it, with the breaking news hitting inboxes within hours. It just shows why industry news is so important!

This week is a bumper episode of the podcast, including our special guest Michael Holaday from Prometric. Prometric are the administrators of the Celpip English test, one of the new English language tests approved by the Department of Home Affairs last year for visa purposes. It's a great conversation about Michael's career trajectory through international ed, as well as a dive into this new offering (in Australia, at least) in the English language testing market.

And alongside that, we've got the mission critical news that you simply can't miss. Thanks for joining us!

Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Angelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host.

The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website.

This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets.

For guest suggestions and feedback, email ⁠podcast@globalsociety.com.au