Michaela Bensley
Adelaide,SA
Overview
2025
2025
years of professional experience
Work History
Program Coordinator
The Smith Family
- Survey, monitor, evaluate and make recommendations for the various programs managed by this team
- Solely responsible for the selection, management, and training of students for the various secondary and post secondary scholarships made available by this organisation
- Case managed a caseload of secondary students, requiring me to have extensive knowledge of Senior Secondary school curricular and study options available to this group
- Instigate partnership opportunities and liaise with all relevant stakeholders some of whom include TAFE SA, Family and Youth Services (FAYS), NCVER, DEST and The Smith Family’s National Senior Managers
- Instrumental in the profiling The Smith Family’s post-secondary scholarships, so as to now be seen as providing scholarship options to those students contemplating a wide range of vocational and educational training
- Playing a lead role in the establishment of a partnership between TAFE SA and The Smith Family, whereby they can now offer scholarships to students interested in attending a TAFE course or other Vocational options
- Establishing a partnership with Minister’s Guardianship program offering a tutoring service to referred clients
- Placed The Smith Family as an organisation committed to the belief that disadvantage can be addressed through education
- Placed The Smith Family as a leader in programs designed for disadvantaged students with a desire to participate in higher and further education
Chief Executive
SACE Board of South Australia
04.2022 - Current
- Making an effective contribution to the attainment of whole of Government objectives that are communicated to the Chief Executive in writing by the Board and that relate to the functioning of the Agency
- The attainment of the performance criteria set from time-to-time by the Board
- The effective management of the agency and the general conduct of its employees
- Ensuring as far as practicable, that the objects of the Act are advanced and the public sector principles are observed in the management of day-to-day operations of the agency
- Complying with all relevant statutory requirements and obligations
- Developed a productive relationship with the new Minister for Education and Skills and his key staff
- Actively engaged and helped shape the national conversation around Senior Secondary Education by representing the SACE Board at ACACA CE meetings
- Continued to influence the national work relating to the assessment of capabilities and their representation in a Learner Profile through representation on the federal project team
- Continued the strong partnerships with the leaders of the schooling sectors
- Constructively and openly engaged with key stakeholders regarding the opportunities and the challenges associated with the Thrive agenda
- Effectively managed the Board and standing committees to support the work of the agency
- Effectively strengthened the Board’s brand and reputation with external engagements and events such as the Merit Ceremony
- Successfully attracted and recruited high performing staff to key and critical roles
- Continued to work with staff to build on the positive, nurturing and inclusive workplace culture
- Successfully finalised the first pilot of EIF and AIF
- Successfully finalised the key aspects of the Learner Profile pilot, including the uptake and usage by Industry Bodies and Tertiary Institutions
Deputy Chief Executive
SACE Board of South Australia
01.2017 - 04.2022
- The Deputy Chief Executive works in close partnership with the Chief Executive to provide cultural, strategic and operational leadership across the SACE Board to ensure the achievement of operational and strategic goals
- Lead and manage the effective delivery of the SACE Board’s services and functions and ensuring that all activities align with the organisation’s strategic direction
- Have responsibility for day-to-day management of the majority of SACE Board business units and the achievement of the following; Ensure the timely and accurate provision of students’ results (Results Processing)
- Develop strategies that will provide the foundation for the cultural and organisational changes to achieve best practice for the delivery of the SACE to stakeholders
- Ensure the development of strategic and risk management plans
- Contribute to the development and review of the governance and organisational structures
- Provide operational and business oversight for SACE Board business units and ensuring the timely and accurate reporting to the CE
- Ensure the effective leadership and management of people, budgets and resources to deliver the core functions, including performance management and development
- Lead and provide direction to a substantial program, portfolio of programs, or portfolio of functions across the SACE Board including negotiating budgets
- Lead and manage a team of ~ 80 staff with 7 direct reports
- Successful implementation of $20M SACE Modernisation program on time and on budget
- Successfully delivered the first online examination in Australia
- In partnership with the CE, developed the Thrive framework that became the core of the current strategic plan
- Developed and implemented a contemporary organisation functional realignment and associated change plan
- Developed a methodology to support the organisation’s development of a culture framework in the form of values and behaviours and ideas as to how these could be ‘lived’ throughout the organisation
- Designed and implemented business maturity systems and processes such as EPMO, Agile methodology, formal change management
- Implemented Function Owners as revitalised internal governance mechanism
- Developed monitoring and evaluation framework
- Created the SACE Board’s Operating Model and implementation approach
Executive Manager, Information Services
SACE Board of South Australia
01.2012 - 01.2017
- Information Services comprises some 60 diverse and multi-disciplinary staff, representing over half of the SACE Board’s total staff
- As Executive Manager Information Services, my core function was to set and enact the strategic vision for the group ensuring it aligns and supports the objectives and goals of the SACE Board more broadly
- I was accountable for the effective leadership and management of all activities associated with this group
- Of critical importance and focus are the following; Demonstrating collaborative and inclusive leadership with SACE business executives as well as other key stakeholders such as, the Board and its standing committees, schooling sectors, higher and further education institutions and other government agencies
- Building a cohesive integrated team with an emphasis on staff development opportunities, risk mitigation, in the form of succession planning, and sustainable workforce planning
- Ensuring major projects are managed in a structured manner with appropriate governance to help ensure benefits are realised, risk mitigated, and deliverables are met on time and on budget
- Accountable for the effective and efficient management of project and operating budgets, worth over $18M
- Ensuring the 39 million data transactions associated with the final SACE Results are error free
- Ensuring the processing and delivery of SACE and Tertiary Entrance results occurs without incident
- Ensuring the enhancements to IT systems are developed according to industry standards and meet business needs
- Ensuring SACE infrastructure is secure and protected against attack, as well as ensuring adequate disaster recovery mechanisms exist
- Provided strategic direction and confidence to the Board by working with the Executive team and the CE to develop and articulate the strategic vision for the next five years
- Played a pivotal role in securing $19M of project funding to modernise SACE operations by developing an e-Assessment business case and Cabinet Submission, incorporating a business transformation strategy, roadmap and implementation plan
- Continued to significantly transform the way in which key stakeholders experienced and delivered the SACE by successfully implementing a number of business transformation projects
- These projects transformed manual paper processes to online solutions
- These projects were delivered to budget and schedule
- Achieved the first milestone associated with the delivery of South Australia’s first senior secondary high-stakes examination by successfully completing a major procurement processes to acquire the services of an IT tool to support this significant project
- Ensured that ICT and operational changes meet business priorities and needs by restructuring the ICT team and business units to provide aligned and integrated service provision
- Improved customer engagement by establishing an internal and external customer engagement strategy, and underpinning governance arrangements
- Improved the experience of our customers by introducing a customer service model that enables a responsive and streamlined customer experience
- Managed risk associated with change by establishing a Project Management Office to ensure appropriate structure, governance and cross-team collaboration and communication
- Ameliorated the risks associated the production of SACE and Tertiary entrance results for approximately 40,000 students by developing a continuous improvement process to consolidate and strengthen the range of associated processes
- Supported better student and school SACE outcomes by providing an electronic comprehensive suite of data reports that are generated dynamically and are configurable by the user
- This was made possible by the implementation of a modern data warehouse
- Mitigated ICT risk and overhead by continuing to implement significant business and system improvement changes including; the reduction in legacy code, enhanced application, database and network stability and performance, and compliance with information and data security
- Ensured effective stakeholder engagement by representing the SACE Board on a range of local and national committees
Manager, SACE Results and Information Management
SACE Board of South Australia
05.2010 - 03.2014
- Providing leadership and vision to transform business processes
- Managing and taking accountability for results integrity processing, and release
- Managing the information and assessment operational systems to support curriculum and assessment activities
- Managing data confidentiality, according to protocols and ensuring the accuracy and timely dissemination of information to schools
- Liaising with school sectors, higher education and training sectors
- Providing high level policy input that enhances the position and operation of the SACE Board and its business
- The successful processing and release of students’ SACE results to a high standard within agreed timeframes
- Actively contributed and shaped policy in relation to the development of the redeveloped qualification as well as successfully implementing the associated business and IT system changes
- Developed and implemented the operational processes to support key policy directions
- Collaborated effectively with the Leadership team in the setting and development of key Board directions
- Implemented a systems approach to the development of the IT work necessary to support the policy directions of the Board
- Managing initiatives associated with the provision of SACE Board data, such as the removal of the FOI exemption, data exchange protocols and agreements with stakeholders and the development of a data warehouse
- Representing the SACE Board on a number of high profile committees such as the Higher and Further Education Task Group and those associated with Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
Team Leader – Information Analysis & Reporting group
Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia
03.2007 - 05.2010
- Responsible for the provision of effective leadership and coordination of a team
- Responsible for ensuring the successful achievement of key outcomes as outlined in the group work plan
- Responsible for the initiation, development, conduct and management of research related projects
- Pivot role in the results processing cycle by coordinating and managing several quality assurance process
- Responsible for the management and provision of SACE Board data
- A comprehensive strategic review and redevelopment of the processes and exception reports associated with the quality assurance of students’ results
- Critical analysis of the SACE Board’s moderation practices and documentation, resulting in redeveloped guidelines to ensure the application of equitable and consistent processes
- Developing, documenting and implementing processes to ensure the marking and supervision of the external assessment component are undertaken consistently, appropriately and according to the endorsed procedures
- The implementation of the Board’s legislative responsibilities in relation to the raising of the Compulsory Education Age
Acting Team Leader – Research
Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia
08.2005 - 11.2005
Research Officer
Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia
04.2004 - 08.2005
- Facilitate accurate and appropriate research related information when requested by internal and external sources
- Responsible of the data extraction, analysis, and production of high quality research reports and papers often made available to a diverse audience and frequently containing highly sensitive information
- Review of national and international implementation methods in relation to the integration of Employability Skills in senior secondary curriculum
- The effecting monitoring and evaluation of critical Stage 2 curricular, in particular the Science Learning Area and Extension Studies
- Critical partner in the review of part-time student engagement in the SACE
Education
Bachelor of Arts -
University of Adelaide
Committee Involvement
- Across government senior leadership groups as required
- Across government CIO Agency Steering Committee
- Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
- Australasian Curriculum, Assessment and Certification Authorities (ACACA)
- South Australian Heads of Schooling Sectors
- Higher and Further Education Task Force
- Principle Partnership Group
- Scaling and Monitoring Committee
- Tertiary Selection Liaison Committee
- Quality Assurance Integrity Panel
- SATAC/SACE Operations Working Group
Academic And Professional Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts – University of Adelaide
- Australian Institute of Company Directors
- Executive Leadership Coaching
- Leadership for Change Agents
- Diploma of Project Management
- Managing Public Sector Budgets and Financial Plans
- Financial Management Workshop
- Media Skills Training
- Records Management Training
- Attended several courses provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. These include:
- From Data to Written Reports
- Principles of Questionnaire Design
- Introduction to Statistical Analysis
- St. John’s Senior First Aid Certificate
- Completed several modules of a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment
- Challenging Behaviours Workshop
- Mandated Notification Training
- Trained in Conflict Resolution Skills
Telephone
0447 201 414
Career Outline
- Interim Chief Executive, SACE Board of South Australia, 04/01/22, CURRENT, Making an effective contribution to the attainment of whole of Government objectives that are communicated to the Chief Executive in writing by the Board and that relate to the functioning of the Agency., The attainment of the performance criteria set from time-to-time by the Board., The effective management of the agency and the general conduct of its employees., Ensuring as far as practicable, that the objects of the Act are advanced and the public sector principles are observed in the management of day-to-day operations of the agency., Complying with all relevant statutory requirements and obligations., Developed a productive relationship with the new Minister for Education and Skills and his key staff., Actively engaged and helped shape the national conversation around Senior Secondary Education by representing the SACE Board at ACACA CE meetings., Continued to influence the national work relating to the assessment of capabilities and their representation in a Learner Profile through representation on the federal project team., Continued the strong partnerships with the leaders of the schooling sectors., Constructively and openly engaged with key stakeholders regarding the opportunities and the challenges associated with the Thrive agenda., Effectively managed the Board and standing committees to support the work of the agency., Effectively strengthened the Board’s brand and reputation with external engagements and events such as the Merit Ceremony., Successfully attracted and recruited high performing staff to key and critical roles., Continued to work with staff to build on the positive, nurturing and inclusive workplace culture., Successfully finalised the first pilot of EIF and AIF., Successfully finalised the key aspects of the Learner Profile pilot, including the uptake and usage by Industry Bodies and Tertiary Institutions.
- Deputy Chief Executive, SACE Board of South Australia, 01/01/17, 04/01/22, The Deputy Chief Executive works in close partnership with the Chief Executive to provide cultural, strategic and operational leadership across the SACE Board to ensure the achievement of operational and strategic goals., Lead and manage the effective delivery of the SACE Board’s services and functions and ensuring that all activities align with the organisation’s strategic direction., Have responsibility for day-to-day management of the majority of SACE Board business units and the achievement of the following:, Ensure the timely and accurate provision of students’ results (Results Processing)., Develop strategies that will provide the foundation for the cultural and organisational changes to achieve best practice for the delivery of the SACE to stakeholders., Ensure the development of strategic and risk management plans., Contribute to the development and review of the governance and organisational structures., Provide operational and business oversight for SACE Board business units and ensuring the timely and accurate reporting to the CE., Ensure the effective leadership and management of people, budgets and resources to deliver the core functions, including performance management and development., Lead and provide direction to a substantial program, portfolio of programs, or portfolio of functions across the SACE Board including negotiating budgets., Lead and manage a team of ~ 80 staff with 7 direct reports., Successful implementation of $20M SACE Modernisation program on time and on budget., Successfully delivered the first online examination in Australia., In partnership with the CE, developed the Thrive framework that became the core of the current strategic plan., Developed and implemented a contemporary organisation functional realignment and associated change plan., Developed a methodology to support the organisation’s development of a culture framework in the form of values and behaviours and ideas as to how these could be ‘lived’ throughout the organisation., Designed and implemented business maturity systems and processes such as EPMO, Agile methodology, formal change management., Implemented Function Owners as revitalised internal governance mechanism., Developed monitoring and evaluation framework., Created the SACE Board’s Operating Model and implementation approach.
- Executive Manager, Information Services, SACE Board of South Australia, 01/01/12, 12/31/17, Information Services comprises some 60 diverse and multi-disciplinary staff, representing over half of the SACE Board’s total staff., As Executive Manager Information Services, my core function was to set and enact the strategic vision for the group ensuring it aligns and supports the objectives and goals of the SACE Board more broadly. I was accountable for the effective leadership and management of all activities associated with this group., Of critical importance and focus are the following:, Demonstrating collaborative and inclusive leadership with SACE business executives as well as other key stakeholders such as, the Board and its standing committees, schooling sectors, higher and further education institutions and other government agencies., Building a cohesive integrated team with an emphasis on staff development opportunities, risk mitigation, in the form of succession planning, and sustainable workforce planning., Ensuring major projects are managed in a structured manner with appropriate governance to help ensure benefits are realised, risk mitigated, and deliverables are met on time and on budget., Accountable for the effective and efficient management of project and operating budgets, worth over $18M., Ensuring the 39 million data transactions associated with the final SACE Results are error free., Ensuring the processing and delivery of SACE and Tertiary Entrance results occurs without incident., Ensuring the enhancements to IT systems are developed according to industry standards and meet business needs., Ensuring SACE infrastructure is secure and protected against attack, as well as ensuring adequate disaster recovery mechanisms exist., Provided strategic direction and confidence to the Board by working with the Executive team and the CE to develop and articulate the strategic vision for the next five years. This vision was then used as the framework for the underpinning business operations and ICT strategies and roadmaps., Played a pivotal role in securing $19M of project funding to modernise SACE operations by developing an e-Assessment business case and Cabinet Submission, incorporating a business transformation strategy, roadmap and implementation plan., Continued to significantly transform the way in which key stakeholders experienced and delivered the SACE by successfully implementing a number of business transformation projects. These projects transformed manual paper processes to online solutions. These projects were delivered to budget and schedule., Achieved the first milestone associated with the delivery of South Australia’s first senior secondary high-stakes examination by successfully completing a major procurement processes to acquire the services of an IT tool to support this significant project., Ensured that ICT and operational changes meet business priorities and needs by restructuring the ICT team and business units to provide aligned and integrated service provision., Improved customer engagement by establishing an internal and external customer engagement strategy, and underpinning governance arrangements., Improved the experience of our customers by introducing a customer service model that enables a responsive and streamlined customer experience., Managed risk associated with change by establishing a Project Management Office to ensure appropriate structure, governance and cross-team collaboration and communication., Ameliorated the risks associated the production of SACE and Tertiary entrance results for approximately 40,000 students by developing a continuous improvement process to consolidate and strengthen the range of associated processes., Supported better student and school SACE outcomes by providing an electronic comprehensive suite of data reports that are generated dynamically and are configurable by the user. This was made possible by the implementation of a modern data warehouse., Mitigated ICT risk and overhead by continuing to implement significant business and system improvement changes including; the reduction in legacy code, enhanced application, database and network stability and performance, and compliance with information and data security., Ensured effective stakeholder engagement by representing the SACE Board on a range of local and national committees.
- Manager, SACE Results and Information Management, SACE Board of South Australia, 05/01/10, 03/31/14, Providing leadership and vision to transform business processes., Managing and taking accountability for results integrity processing, and release., Managing the information and assessment operational systems to support curriculum and assessment activities., Managing data confidentiality, according to protocols and ensuring the accuracy and timely dissemination of information to schools., Liaising with school sectors, higher education and training sectors., Providing high level policy input that enhances the position and operation of the SACE Board and its business., The successful processing and release of students’ SACE results to a high standard within agreed timeframes., Actively contributed and shaped policy in relation to the development of the redeveloped qualification as well as successfully implementing the associated business and IT system changes., Developed and implemented the operational processes to support key policy directions., Collaborated effectively with the Leadership team in the setting and development of key Board directions., Implemented a systems approach to the development of the IT work necessary to support the policy directions of the Board., Managing initiatives associated with the provision of SACE Board data, such as the removal of the FOI exemption, data exchange protocols and agreements with stakeholders and the development of a data warehouse., Representing the SACE Board on a number of high profile committees such as the Higher and Further Education Task Group and those associated with Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
- Team Leader – Information Analysis & Reporting group, Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia, 03/01/07, 05/31/10, Responsible for the provision of effective leadership and coordination of a team., Responsible for ensuring the successful achievement of key outcomes as outlined in the group work plan., Responsible for the initiation, development, conduct and management of research related projects., Pivot role in the results processing cycle by coordinating and managing several quality assurance process., Responsible for the management and provision of SACE Board data., A comprehensive strategic review and redevelopment of the processes and exception reports associated with the quality assurance of students’ results., Critical analysis of the SACE Board’s moderation practices and documentation, resulting in redeveloped guidelines to ensure the application of equitable and consistent processes., Developing, documenting and implementing processes to ensure the marking and supervision of the external assessment component are undertaken consistently, appropriately and according to the endorsed procedures., The implementation of the Board’s legislative responsibilities in relation to the raising of the Compulsory Education Age.
- Acting Team Leader – Research, Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia, 08/01/05, 11/30/05, Responsibilities and Achievements as above.
- Research Officer, Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia, 04/01/04, 08/31/05, Facilitate accurate and appropriate research related information when requested by internal and external sources., Responsible of the data extraction, analysis, and production of high quality research reports and papers often made available to a diverse audience and frequently containing highly sensitive information., Review of national and international implementation methods in relation to the integration of Employability Skills in senior secondary curriculum., The effecting monitoring and evaluation of critical Stage 2 curricular, in particular the Science Learning Area and Extension Studies., Critical partner in the review of part-time student engagement in the SACE.
- Program Coordinator, The Smith Family – Learning for Life Program, Survey, monitor, evaluate and make recommendations for the various programs managed by this team., Solely responsible for the selection, management, and training of students for the various secondary and post secondary scholarships made available by this organisation., Case managed a caseload of secondary students, requiring me to have extensive knowledge of Senior Secondary school curricular and study options available to this group., Instigate partnership opportunities and liaise with all relevant stakeholders some of whom include TAFE SA, Family and Youth Services (FAYS), NCVER, DEST and The Smith Family’s National Senior Managers., Instrumental in the profiling The Smith Family’s post-secondary scholarships, so as to now be seen as providing scholarship options to those students contemplating a wide range of vocational and educational training., Playing a lead role in the establishment of a partnership between TAFE SA and The Smith Family, whereby they can now offer scholarships to students interested in attending a TAFE course or other Vocational options., Establishing a partnership with Minister’s Guardianship program offering a tutoring service to referred clients., Placed The Smith Family as an organisation committed to the belief that disadvantage can be addressed through education., Placed The Smith Family as a leader in programs designed for disadvantaged students with a desire to participate in higher and further education.
Timeline
Chief Executive
SACE Board of South Australia
04.2022 - Current
Deputy Chief Executive
SACE Board of South Australia
01.2017 - 04.2022
Executive Manager, Information Services
SACE Board of South Australia
01.2012 - 01.2017
Manager, SACE Results and Information Management
SACE Board of South Australia
05.2010 - 03.2014
Team Leader – Information Analysis & Reporting group
Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia
03.2007 - 05.2010
Acting Team Leader – Research
Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia
08.2005 - 11.2005
Research Officer
Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia
04.2004 - 08.2005
Program Coordinator
The Smith Family
Bachelor of Arts -
University of Adelaide
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