Academic Board

Academic Board

Associate Professor Alison Owens is the Chair of the Academic Board and serves as a distinguished member of the Governing Council, Course & Industry Advisory Committee and Learning & Teaching Committee at Southern Cross Institute (SCI). She is also the Academic Lead, Scholarship and Professional Learning at the Centre for Education and Innovation at Australian Catholic University (ACU).

Associate Professor Owens has more than twenty-five years’ experience in teaching and research in higher education. She has received multiple internal and external research grants and has published widely on higher education topics. Her key fields of interest and impact include the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Creative Arts.

Associate Professor Owens completed her Doctorate in Education at the University of Technology Sydney in 2006 and a PhD in Creative Arts at Central Queensland University in 2018. In recognition of her commitment to professional learning for academic staff and PhD supervision, she received the ACU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Postgraduate Teaching Excellence in 2023.

Associate Professor Antony John Drew serves as a distinguished member of the Academic Board at Southern Cross Institute (SCI). He is an experienced professional who provides strategic consulting services globally in the internationalisation of higher education. Associate Professor Drew is the former Assistant Dean International in the Faculty of Business and Law and an Associate Professor in International Business and Management at the University of Newcastle.

Associate Professor Drew specialises in institutional theory, economic sociology and the internationalisation of higher education. His work focuses on developing frameworks to understand how informal business institutions evolve across different societies. His recent accomplishments include the publication of The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Higher Education Systems and University Management by Oxford University Press in 2019.

Professor Peter James Camilleri is the Chair of SCI’s Social Work Course Development Committee and a senior social work academic with extensive experience in social work education, curriculum development, accreditation and academic governance within the Australian higher education sector. He provides leadership to support curriculum integrity, professional alignment and the continuous improvement of social work programs.

Professor Camilleri has taught across Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work (Qualifying) programs and has contributed to the development and review of qualifying social work degrees. His academic work focuses on social work education, social policy, child protection, community services, justice systems and professional practice. He has also supervised doctoral candidates to completion.

In his leadership role, Professor Camilleri supports evidence-based course design, the constructive alignment of learning outcomes and assessment, and continuous improvement informed by academic and professional standards. His approach strengthens curriculum coherence and ensures graduates are well prepared for ethical and effective social work practice.

Through his role as Chair of the Social Work Course Development Committee, Professor Peter James Camilleri leads course development and review processes, ensuring alignment with professional expectations, accreditation requirements and academic quality standards. His contribution plays a key role in strengthening SCI’s commitment to high-quality, ethical and professionally aligned social work education.

Professor Asif Iqbal has over twenty years’ experience as an academic, most of it in academic management roles. Educated across several continents, Professor Iqbal completed his initial commerce degree in Pakistan, followed by a degree in the United Kingdom. He subsequently worked as an academic at Assumption University in Bangkok and as Head of the Marketing Department at the Bradford University Bangkok Campus/Centre.

In Australia, Professor Iqbal lectured at the University of Wollongong, Australian Catholic University, Central Queensland University and the University of Newcastle. He worked at Central Queensland University for six years as a lecturer and Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law. In this role, Professor Iqbal led a team of more than 100 academics across a wide range of disciplines. As Sub-Dean, he also played a key role in establishing the university’s new Sydney campus.

In 2005, Professor Iqbal was instrumental in establishing the Sydney Campus of Curtin University of Technology, where he worked as Academic Director and led a large team of academics until 2009. He managed comprehensive campus audits conducted by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) and served as Chair of the Academic Board at the Sydney Campus of Curtin University of Technology.

Professor Iqbal has been a member of various corporate and academic committees at Central Queensland University, Curtin University of Technology, the University of Wollongong, the University of Newcastle, the Australian Institute of Business and Queensland International Business Academy (QIBA Sydney).

As a member of the CPA Australia Universities Committee, he played a key role in establishing a new membership pathway through the completion of foundation courses.

Following his role at Curtin University and prior to joining Southern Cross School of Business (SCSB), Professor Iqbal established the higher education division of Williams Business College and successfully led it in gaining recognition as a non-self-accrediting higher education institution. The College Governing Council subsequently appointed him Campus Director and Dean of Williams Business College. Professor Iqbal also served as Chair of the Higher Education Executive Management Team and as a member of the Governing Council and Academic Board. He is well known for his expertise in higher education management and is widely consulted in relation to higher education registration, course accreditation and regulatory processes.

Associate Professor Georgia Clarkson is the Chair of the Course & Industry Advisory Committee and serves as a distinguished member of the Academic Board at Southern Cross Institute (SCI). She has a mixed disciplinary background in arts, teaching, and paramedicine. She has a focus on inclusivity in education having completed her PhD around the impact of inclusive educational practice.

Associate Professor Clarkson has worked as an academic since 2008 and has been employed by several higher education providers, where she has worked in leadership roles in shaping programs and projects. Her interdisciplinary experience has guided her leadership of numerous teaching development projects in collaboration with colleagues from a broad range of disciplines. Experience in policy development and governance enhances her higher education leadership experience.

Dr Queen Aigbefo is a member of Southern Cross Institute’s (SCI) Academic Board.

She is a seasoned cybersecurity professional specialising in Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC). Her expertise lies at the intersection of threat intelligence and human factors, with a primary focus on how user behaviour influences an organisation’s security posture. As a dedicated educator, she specialises in developing practical modules to enhance learning outcomes, drawing on her background in academic research and applied systems analysis.

Dr Aigbefo holds a Doctor of Philosophy, supported by postgraduate qualifications in Cybersecurity Behaviour and Information Technology, Management and Organisational Change. Her academic training also includes an exchange program in Management Information Systems at the Higher School of Economics (National Research University).

In her role as an Academic Board member, Dr Aigbefo contributes academic and professional expertise to academic oversight, curriculum quality and informed decision-making in relation to technology-enabled learning and digital risk within the higher education environment.

Associate Professor Adrian Melia serves as a distinguished member of the Academic Board at Southern Cross Institute (SCI). He brings more than 20 years of combined experience as an industry practitioner and academic. Prior to entering academia, he worked as an Actuarial Analyst in the financial services sector and as a Management Consultant, advising clients across the finance and government sectors.

Associate Professor Melia is an award-winning researcher with expertise in finance, investment, health insurance and corporate governance. He has published in leading academic journals and is recognised for translating academic research into industry practice. His leadership in program development, governance and industry engagement brings valuable strategic insight to SCI.