About

The ATEND Pathways Conference is a biennial event organised by the Australian Tertiary Education Network on Disability (ATEND).

ATEND Pathways Conferences brings together disability practitioners, NDCOs and a range of other professionals, as well as academic and teaching staff, researchers, and students with disabilities to build upon the participation of people with disabilities in the post-secondary education and training sector.

Pathways Conferences also play a pivotal role in the provision of essential professional development and in an ongoing contribution to an informed sector-wide approach to inclusivity.

Our Pathways14 conference theme, we believe, reflects not only the future but also the past. There has always been a focus on working collaboratively together to enhance access and engagement for students with disabilities. We will need to maintain these partnerships and build more collaborations and support networks as we face further challenges with the changing landscape of the post-secondary education and training sector.

A number of the current and emerging issues in this sector will be explored and information shared at the Pathways14 Conference. We all want to hear about best practice but we can also learn from research, funded projects, new programs trialled to create new solutions as well as being re-invigorated by the personal success stories.

We can also learn how, in collaboration and sharing, we can partner in the progress of Universal Design and Inclusive Teaching Practice. Across the sector, we need to learn to be ever more resourceful and creative in a resource-challenged environment.

The Pathways14 Committee is keen to action feedback from previous Pathways Conferences and will offer more opportunities for formal and informal networking activities, aimed at enhancing knowledge and building sector-wide collaborative partnerships. In recognising unique challenges and issues, the conference program will include more targeted sessions and activities related to the VET sector.

Manly is located on Guringai land, on a peninsula with the eastern sandy beaches of the Pacific Ocean and our glorious Sydney Harbour on its western side. It has the vibrancy and the beauty of a coastal place with many restaurants, bush trails, tourist attractions as well as a place to relax and enjoy the sunshine. We warmly welcome you to join us for a conference experience as vibrant and re-vitalising as Manly itself.