One of the state’s leaders in vocational education and training (VET) policy has been awarded the Frank and Helen Zobec Churchill Fellowship which aims to bridge equity gaps through education and research.

Director of Equity Programs, Skills and Workforce Programs at the NSW Department of Education, Rebecca Allen, has devoted her career to developing policy and strategy that improves educational pathway opportunities for young people.

Uniquely placed in the industry as an expert in the higher, tertiary and vocational education spaces, Ms Allen will be leveraging the fellowship to investigate wraparound support models that help at-risk students complete vocational training.

“My vision is to build a stronger needs-based system for skills where students can go to a provider that best meets their needs and receive the support to help them succeed,” she said.

As part of her fellowship, Ms Allen will be exploring the Skills models in Germany, Switzerland and Singapore, countries with governments that have made deliberate decisions to invest in their skills systems and human capital.

“Germany is well known for its well established dual sector system which promotes parity across vocational and higher education pathways; Switzerland puts its effort behind a high status apprenticeship model that gets excellent completions; and Singapore shapes its system around the industries they want to build strength in,” Ms Allen said.

“Their skills systems are intentionally designed in a way that is responsive to future economic challenges.”

While the NSW Skills system has a diverse provider market filled with unique strengths that offer a variety of choices for students, Ms Allen says there are opportunities to bolster wraparound support models even further.

“How do we put equity at the heart of the VET system? Many of our equity students are overrepresented in VET but aren’t always attaining the same outcomes as some of their peers,” Ms Allen said.

“We have good entitlements in our skills sector that are strong foundations for a robust equity system like fee-free apprenticeships and traineeships and waivers for equity students.

“The state is currently experiencing a period of transition with the NSW Skills Plan focusing our efforts around industries and future economic challenges in a way that is more responsive to student and employer needs.”

Through her research and study tour in 2026, Ms Allen hopes to extend the impact of her work to redesign vocational equity support programs, lift attainment and completion rates, and meet skills needs through a robust system.

“A needs-based system is one that leaves no one behind, will lift our training rates for equity cohorts, and will also help solve our skills shortages,” she said.

Among Ms Allen’s achievements in designing and implementing innovative education models across schools, TAFE NSW and universities, she has worked on NSW Skills Plan, helped stand up the Meadowbank and Kingswood NSW Institutes of Applied Technology with TAFE NSW and led the policy work for the NSW VET Review.