4/04/2026
Register for IEP Summit Australia 2026
We’ve all attended a conference where you sat in rows, watched a parade of PowerPoint slides, and left with a tote bag and not much else. The IEP Summit is designed to be something entirely different.
Scott Parkin FIEP, the IEP Group CEO, believes the energy of being in a room where genuine exchange occurs is truly special.
“The idea is we bring people together,” Scott said. “It’s an anti-conference. We want everyone to be in the room constantly together. They have to talk, they have to debate, they have to engage with each other, and they have to learn together.”
For Scott, the Summit Australia is something he looks forward to each year.
“It’s a really great opportunity to get together with friends, colleagues and peers from the sector.
“While the IEP is a professional institute for people practicing the art, craft, skill and profession of employability, it isn’t stuffy. It does things very differently.”
IEP Summit Australia 2026: The Conversations Taking Shape
With this year’s Summit now confirmed for Thursday 12 November 2026 at The Promenade Docklands, Melbourne, planning is well underway – and the themes emerging reflect the conversations many across the sector are already having.
The context for employability and employment services continues to shift. Expectations of work are changing, recruitment is evolving, and the people we support are navigating increasingly complex pathways into employment. This year’s Summit will bring people together to explore these changes in a practical and grounded way, with a focus on what they mean for day-to-day practice and future workforce development.
Youth employment and the changing nature of youth is one of the key themes shaping the agenda. The impact of wellbeing and shifting expectations of work continues to influence how young people engage with employment and training. The Summit will look at how services are responding — and what more needs to evolve to meet these changing needs.
The changing nature of recruitment is another area the program will explore. As employers respond to skills shortages, advances in technology, and new workforce expectations, recruitment practices are shifting. This brings both opportunities and challenges — particularly around the role of AI, the balance between skills and qualifications, and how we best support people who are further from the labour market.
The Summit will also turn the lens inward, exploring skills, competencies, and professionalisation within the employability workforce. There is growing recognition of the gap between what roles often ask for and what effective practice actually requires. Through discussion and interactive sessions, we will begin to unpack what good practice looks like in today’s context – and how we continue to define and develop the profession.
What brings these themes together is a shared focus on strengthening practice: understanding what works, where the challenges lie, and how we continue to improve outcomes for the people we support.
The Summit will conclude with the Elevation Evening, offering further opportunity to connect and continue conversations well beyond the formal program.
Be Part of the Discussion
Thursday 12 November 2026 | The Promenade Docklands, Melbourne
Tickets are now available. If you’d like to join practitioners, leaders, and peers from across the sector for a day of genuine exchange in Melbourne this November, we’d love to see you there.
Register for IEP Summit Australia 2026
If you wish to pay by invoice or in up to three instalments, please contact amy.lucas@iemployability.org or select the pay by invoice ticket type at checkout.