WIL Australia Conference 2026

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WIL for Impact: Partnering for Scalable Practice

WIL Australia is pleased to announce the WIL Australia Conference 2026 will take place on 18 – 20 October 2026 in Adelaide/Tarntanya, Australia. Conference activities will be held at the world-class Adelaide Convention Centre on the banks of the River Torrens, with the Awards Dinner being held at the beautiful National Wine Centre of Australia. All located in the Adelaide CBD and conveniently surrounded by hotels, we look forward to seeing you there!

The WIL Australia Conference will continue the tradition of fostering connection, collaboration, and professional learning to promote quality and excellence in work-integrated learning (WIL). We welcome practitioners, researchers, and representatives from the tertiary education sector, industry, community, and government – across Australia and beyond – who are engaged in WIL, collaborative education, and career development learning.

The WIL Australia Conference 2026 will showcase how WIL is making a tangible impact on students, industry partners, institutions, and communities — now and into the future. This is an excellent opportunity to learn and network with like-minded colleagues as we seek evidence-based opportunities to scale our approaches, inclusively and with finite resources, maximising the outcomes for our students and partners. The conference sub-themes include Designing Scalable and Sustainable WIL Models; Partnering for Impact: Collaborating with Purpose; Mobilising Students for Lifelong Learning and Career Development; and Enhancing Quality, Inclusion and Innovation through Evidence-Based Practice.

The WIL Australia Conference Committee and the WIL Australia Board look forward to welcoming national and international colleagues to share and combine our collective knowledge and experience to deliver tangible results for students, partners, institutions, and communities.

#WILimpact2026

Sub-Themes

Designing Scalable and Sustainable WIL Models

Demonstrating scalable approaches that are delivering real-world outcomes for students, institutions, and partners – with quality and equity embedded from the outset.

Partnering for Impact: Collaborating with Purpose

Showcasing industry, community, and cross-sector partnerships that are creating tangible benefits for students, employers, and communities and society.

Mobilising Students for Lifelong Learning and Career Development

How WIL contributes to real-world mobility: skill application, employment pathways, and self-efficacy. Innovations in pedagogy, technology, and program design that enhance student agency, skill mobility, and career pathways.

Enhancing Quality, Inclusion and Innovation through Evidence-Based Practice

Practice-informed approaches that are delivering measurable improvements to WIL quality, outcomes, access, and design, while advancing access and inclusion for diverse cohorts.

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge and pay respects to the Kaurna people, the traditional custodians of the land on which the WIL Australia Conference 2026 will be held, and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and community.

We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples attending the conference.

Two Headline Panels to Shape the Future of WIL

Day 1: Future Talent: What Students Want, What Graduates Expect
This session will create space for candid discussion about the current WIL experience. Students, recent graduates, and early-career professionals will reflect on what is working, where expectations and reality diverge, and what needs to change.

Day 2: Funding the Future: Australia’s Next Big Investment in WIL
Building on the insights raised on Day 1, this panel will bring together policy, government, industry and sector leaders to consider where the next sustained investment in WIL may come from—and what conditions will shape it.

FURTHER INFORMATION