I am sure many of you have now recovered from the Queensland state conference. I wanted to do a small piece with some highlights of mine from the conference. This particular piece is definitely my perspective as a student and just outlining the different opportunities you may find there – especially if you have not gone before … If you were thinking of attending next year, this is your sign (especially for students or preservice teachers)!

Formalities

This is where you assume it is the boring part … But! I can assure you that it is far from it. The introduction and conclusion of the conference were definitely a highlight of mine. These parts of the conference came with keynote speakers (will get back to this), awards for professionals in the field, well-deserved credit for home economists working behind the scenes and scholarship presentations. I would love to welcome and give Isabelle Logan a special shout out for receiving her King and Amy O’Malley Trust scholarship on this weekend, welcome to the family!

Keynote speakers

Ben Rennie. Dr Emma Beckett. They did not disappoint. We first had Ben Rennie who is the founder of Rennie Creative Lab, academic at UNSW, author and the list goes on. He spoke to us about his journey in design, drive for a better world and being true to yourself. Really what I found from his talk is that it is okay to start again. If it does not feel right and it’s not what you believe in, try again. Dr Emma Beckett, with a whopping 5+ degrees and PhD in Food and Nutrition, she breaks down the complexities of food science and food and nutrition. I love her approach to imperfect eating and really exploring the 'grey spaces' in what is right and wrong in nutrition. I lost track of time and barely blinked during their speeches as I did not want to look away.

Concurrent sessions

There was a plethora of sessions to choose from, which is the beauty of these conferences. I chose the following:

• Sew what? Rethinking sustainable fashion education: Ellen Chandler and Michele Chandler (Clothes Minded) – Which really modelled sustainable fashion education for high school students by hands on learning about the practicality of the industry
• Taste of Country: Ngaire Mayo (Woodcrest State College) – Where we got to create our own indigenous spice blends with salt or sugar to put on some buttered damper. It allowed us to first hand experiment with native ingredients and explore different classroom activities.
• From environment to ensemble: Exploring the language of design through colour, texture and silhouette: Mandi Meise and Georgia Meise (Fairholme College) – We explored design through practical activities and really scaffolding for students such as design folios with textures, utilising the senses to design or sketching fashion with current runway styles. I especially loved this session as someone who has not had much of an opportunity to teach design.

Everything in between

You cannot forget the everything in between! The trade stalls that have an absolute plethora of things to look at and buy. One of my favourites was Riley Callie (as you may have read about in my previous articles) where there were many indigenous class resources. Oz Harvest FEAST where they have the freebies such as fridge tape with dates to prevent food waste and more.

To really wrap this up, my favourite part (except for the food) would be the networking. As a student I can sit down at any place or any table and be greeted and welcomed to a new family. I get to hear peoples experience in the industry, ask advice or even share stories from my findings. These networks are priceless and really is what these events are all about.

A massive thank you to HEIA(Q) and all the sponsors for yet another lovely conference for 2026.

Olivia Bennett

HEIA(Q) and O'Malley Trust scholar