KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Associate Professor Linda Ferrington

PhD, PGCHE, SFHEA

School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Sydney

  • Associate Professor Linda Ferrington is an academic leader and educator within the School of Clinical Medicine at UNSW Sydney and the Rural Clinical Campus Port Macquarie, with extensive experience across medical education, curriculum development, student engagement, academic wellbeing, and tertiary teaching practice.

    Her work focuses on the development and delivery of engaging, evidence-informed learning experiences for adult learners within higher education and clinical training environments. She plays an active role in teaching, assessment, and curriculum development within Phase 1 Medicine at UNSW Sydney, while contributing to innovative approaches that support student engagement, retention, and long-term educational outcomes.

    Associate Professor Ferrington has a strong interest in learner wellbeing, educational sustainability, and the development of supportive and effective learning environments within medicine and health education.

    At the Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium 2026, Associate Professor Ferrington will contribute perspectives from contemporary medical and tertiary education, exploring the importance of engagement, learning environments, curriculum innovation, and long-term wellbeing approaches within higher education and health training systems. She will also highlight a new research project investigating the Universal Wellbeing of higher education academics.

    Through her work at UNSW Sydney, Associate Professor Ferrington continues to contribute to advancing teaching practice, curriculum innovation, wellbeing leadership, and educational excellence within contemporary medical and tertiary education.

Dr Gabi Nudelman

Senior Lecturer
School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School

  • Dr Gabi Nudelman is a Senior Lecturer within the School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School, with expertise spanning higher education, organisational systems, professional identity, ethics of care, and sustainable approaches to learning and work.

    Holding a PhD in Higher Education Studies from Rhodes University, Dr Nudelman’s research explores how educational and organisational systems can support more wellbeing supporting, humane, and just, alongside sustainable ways of working and learning across institutional settings.

    Her work focuses particularly on professional identity, academic roles, institutional culture, and the importance of wellbeing, care, kindness, and ethical leadership within contemporary education and organisational environments.

    As an educator and researcher, Dr Nudelman contributes to advancing critical conversations around leadership, organisational wellbeing, higher education systems, and sustainable institutional practice.

    At the Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium 2026, Dr Nudelman will draw on her research and practice to argue that higher education institutions, as sites of knowledge creation and formative spaces that shape the next generation of citizens and professionals, carry a unique and underutilised responsibility in the broader societal wellbeing project.

Keynote presenters for the Australian Universal Wellbeing Symposium will include leading researchers, practitioners, and sector leaders contributing to prevention-first approaches to improving wellbeing outcomes across Australia.

Keynote presenters are invited by the symposium organisers and will represent a range of sectors including research, education, health, policy, community services, and industry.

Confirmed keynote presenters will be announced as they are finalised.

Symposium Themes

Keynote presentations will explore topics related to prevention-first Universal Wellbeing approaches, including:

• Mental health and suicide prevention

• Sexual and family violence

• Chronic illness and public health

• Educational achievement and engagement

• Workplace wellbeing and productivity

• Social cohesion and equity