Dr Dani Milos and Rhiannon Vince from Flinders University have received the ACGR Award for Excellence in Graduate Research Programs and Support for their outstanding leadership of the HDR Supervisor Development Program.

This institution-wide, mandatory framework has transformed academic culture by reframing supervision as a core teaching practice rather than a compliance activity. Developed by the Office of Graduate Research team, the program integrates flexible online core modules, interactive workshops, and written reflective assessments that receive personalised, developmental feedback.

The program stands out for its immense institutional impact, helping lift supervisor engagement to 88% and contributing to on-time completions of over 90%. Grounded in the candidate voice, with over 90% of students reporting high satisfaction with supervision, this nationally benchmarked model has been widely shared to influence supervisor education across the sector.

Highly Commended: The Graduate Research School (Supervision Development Team and HDRAC) at the University of Sydney was also Highly Commended for embedding Respectful Research training into supervisor re-registration, creating a sustained, university-wide approach to safe and inclusive HDR supervision.