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Belinda Atkinson
Executive Director , Brisbane
I am an Executive Director in MinterEllison Consulting’s Education team, advising universities and private providers on governance, regulation and institutional risk in matters with strategic, regulatory and reputational consequence.

Belinda is an Executive Director in MinterEllison Consulting’s Education team with recognised expertise in higher education governance, regulation and institutional risk. She advises public universities and private providers on matters with significant strategic, regulatory and reputational consequence.

Before joining MinterEllison Consulting in May 2024, she held senior roles at Southern Cross University, including Director, Governance Services and University Secretary, with responsibility for the legal office, privacy and legislative compliance, risk management, policy, records management, internal audit, and Council and Academic Board secretariat. She also brings more than 15 years’ experience as a commercial litigator at national law firms in Australia and Canada. This combination of on-the-ground university governance experience, consulting capability and litigation background enables her to provide advice that is strategic, practical and commercially pragmatic in highly regulated environments. 

Belinda is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors

Career highlights

  • Advised universities and private providers on governance reviews, regulatory responses, compliance audits and strategic advisory work across the higher education sector. 
  • Conducted independent reviews of corporate and academic governance for Australian universities and private providers, including analysis against the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (Cth) and the Expert Council on University Governance Principles. 
  • Supported universities and private providers to respond to TEQSA requests for information and compliance notices, including evidence collation, drafting responses and supporting implementation of agreed actions.
  • Led a vendor regulatory due diligence of 13 higher education and vocational education entities across Australia and New Zealand in support of the sale of the UP Education group.  
  • Led a scoping study for the disestablishment of the University of Adelaide in the context of its integration into Adelaide University, delivering a scoping study report, prioritised activity database, implementation strategy and assurance framework.  
  • Supported universities in embedding academic risk management within broader enterprise risk management frameworks. 
  • Developed a tailored reporting template for the University Chancellors Council to support ‘if not / why not’ reporting on the Expert Council on University Governance Principles.  

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