Communications Toolkit, 6th Edition | AU/NZ

The late Dr. Jane Grellier dedicated more than 20 years to coordinating the first-year Communications Program in the Faculty of Media, Society and Culture at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. She worked with a team of educators delivering communications units to over 4,000 first-year students annually across internal faculties, online, and offshore. Jane began her career as a secondary English teacher in Western Australian schools before spending 15 years as an educational writer and curriculum developer for both secondary and tertiary sectors. A gifted writer, she was known for her clarity, precision, and sensitivity, and was deeply committed to helping students write in clear, concise English—skills she believed were essential for success at university. Her most recent research focused on reflective practice, a lifelong interest that shaped her own writing and informed her efforts to foster reflective thinking among first-year students. Jane’s warmth, generosity, and professionalism earned the admiration and respect of colleagues, editorial teams, and students alike. This sixth edition of The Communications Toolkit, along with past and future editions, stands as a tribute to Jane’s remarkable contribution to education and her enduring legacy.

Dr Veronica Goerke is a senior lecturer and advisor at Curtin University . Like Jane and Katie, Veronica worked in secondary schools before teaching and coordinating university communication skills and holding leadership roles in academic development and curriculum design. Her role includes working with First Nations Australians to co-create and deliver reconciliation-related projects and promoting antiracism for students and staff. She has completed research on the first-year experience, communication skills and students’ use of tablet computers; however, her key research focus is translating contemporary reconciliation in Australian universities. As reconciliation is significantly about how we communicate in the ‘third space’ (Bhabha 1988), Veronica believes we need to keep enhancing our communications to be more inclusive and create positive change in our world.

Katie Fielding is a student conduct coordinator at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, where she works to maintain and educate about academic integrity. Prior to taking on this role, Katie predominantly taught in the schools of Media, Culture and Social Inquiry (MCASI), Education, and more recently with Engineering students. She began her teaching career in secondary school English, and later moved into the tertiary education space where her passion and skill for teacher education and communication have been employed. She has a particular interest in the ways that online learning can be harnessed to provide students with opportunities to access education, as well as the impact of new technologies such as artificial intelligence on education. Katie spent several years researching the role that digital technologies can play in helping young children develop their capacities for creative thinking, innovation and problem solving.