Executive

Chief Executive Officer

Dr Peter Hill

Dr Peter Hill has recently been appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.

In his previous role, Peter was a Senior Advisor to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority and an educational consultant on projects in Australia, Canada, the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the USA. From 2004 to 2007, Peter was Secretary General of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority where he played a key role in developing and implementing changes in curriculum, assessment and certification in a major reform.

Peter began his career in education as a geography teacher in London, before moving to Australia in 1970. Since then he has held positions across the globe including Teacher and Research Officer, Superintendent of Research and Assistant Director (Planning) in Western Australia, Chairperson and Chief Executive of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Board, Chief General Manager of the Department of School Education in Victoria, Professor of Education, The University of Melbourne and Director of Research and Development, National Centre on Education and the Economy, Washington D.C.

Peter has been a Board Member of the Australian Council for Educational Research, the Australian Research Council, a Trustee of the National Centre on Education and the Economy, USA and Chair of the Board of Directors, Australian Principals Centre.

General Manager Assessment and Reporting

Ms Sharyn Lidster

Sharyn has a background in mathematics education having taught students from Kindergarten to Year 12.  She also worked as a research fellow and pre-service educator in mathematics teaching at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.  She is an assessor of the Highly Accomplished Teacher of Mathematics (HAToM) credential.

Sharyn began her career with the Bureau of Statistics and worked there for eight years before joining the Department of Education, Tasmania.  Since then she has held positions of Assistant Principal, acting Principal, Senior Curriculum Officer, Assistant Director in Leadership and Learning and Assistant Director Equity Standards Branch.  Her broad range of experience is further evidenced by her service on the Schools Registration Board and the Tasmanian Home Education Advisory Council. 

Prior to taking up the position with ACARA, Sharyn was Manager of Educational Performance Services (EPS) with the Department of Education in Tasmania where she has overseen assessment, reporting and accountability for Tasmanian government schools.  She was a senior member of the team that calibrated the Tasmanian curriculum standards and implemented the statewide moderation process for all year levels, Kindergarten to Year 10.

General Manager Corporate Strategy and Governance

Ms Rosemary Naughton

Rose Naughton was involved in the establishment of the Interim National Curriculum Board and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) from April 2008.

Rose has a background in Drama and English education in Western Australian government, Catholic and independent schools in roles as teacher, head of department, deputy principal and as a chief examiner for English Literature. She was a lead teacher in applying learning technologies in the classroom, and as a Churchill Fellow her research in learning technologies and information systems resulted in key projects through Australian Research Council project grants such as information systems to improve wrap around services to schools and digital assessment formats for senior secondary examinations.

Public administration roles for the Curriculum Council and the Department of Education and Training in Western Australia provided Rose with significant experience in managing strategic executive services, ministerial liaison, communications and stakeholder relations (executive officer to the Council, 1999-2001 and 2004-2007). She was executive officer for Western Australia’s review of senior secondary education (1999-2001); strategic advisor for learning technologies (2002) and manager of education services for the West Coast district for the Department of Education and Training (2003); project manager for K–12 curriculum guides development for eight learning areas and project manager for the development of endorsed programs which provide for non-formal learning in the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) and include university, vocational education and training, community and personal development programs (2004-2007, Curriculum Council). 

General Manager Curriculum

Mr Robert Randall

Robert Randall has recently been appointed as General Manager, Curriculum with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. He was previously General Manager of the Interim National Curriculum Board.

Prior to taking up this new position with ACARA, Robert was Director of Curriculum K-12 with the NSW Department of Education and Training. In this position Robert was responsible for leading and coordinating the development of curriculum policy and the provision of teacher professional learning and curriculum support materials for NSW public schools K-12.

From 1996 to 2001 Robert was Director, Curriculum, with the NSW Board of Studies, where he was responsible for the management of the Higher School Certificate syllabus review program and a range of K-10 syllabus development projects.

Robert began his career as a teacher of mathematics in Perth before holding a range of positions within and beyond schools in Western Australia. These included Head Teacher, Mathematics, Project Leader, Monitoring Standards in Education, Senior Curriculum Advisor (Curriculum Policy) and Manager, Assessment and Reporting with the Education Department and Principal Consultant with the Interim Curriculum Council of Western Australia.