For international students, the journey of studying English in Australia is about far more than learning a new language. It can mean finding confidence in an unfamiliar environment, building connections across cultures, discovering new possibilities and imagining a different future.
This year, the English Australia Conference puts those student experiences firmly at the centre of its program. Under the theme ‘Stories of Transformation’, the conference will explore the many ways English language education changes lives and, importantly, gives students the opportunity to tell those stories in their own voices. Throughout the program, the student voice is not simply a subject for discussion; it is an integral part of the conference experience.
One of the key highlights will be ‘New voices, new possibilities: Student stories of confidence, connection and future pathways’, a panel discussion featuring Lorena Maya, Giorgio Nava, Sandino Subirana and Sachika Okabe, facilitated by Petar Stojanovic from La Trobe College Australia.
The panel will invite students to reflect on their own stories, putting them directly in the spotlight and giving delegates the opportunity to hear how studying English and living in Australia has shaped their experiences, their sense of self and their aspirations for the future. By sharing these experiences, the panel will encourage delegates to consider not only what we teach, but the impact that learning has beyond the classroom.
That same commitment to student voice will take centre stage in a very different form when RMIT UP’s international student theatre group performs excerpts from Alien, a theatre work created by international students. Alien represents students’ personal experiences of othering, difference and racism, bringing lived experience into the conference through performance. The students have contributed as performers and writers, as well as taking on key creative roles in project design and development. The result is a powerful example of what can happen when students are given the space, support and agency to transform their experiences into creative work.
Through theatre, experiences that can be difficult to articulate in a traditional discussion can be explored, shared and understood from a different perspective. It is a reminder that international students bring not only their aspirations and cultural diversity to Australian education, but also rich and sometimes challenging stories that deserve to be heard.
The student perspective is not limited to conference sessions, with a student-led walking tour of Melbourne on the afternoon of Wednesday, 16 September.
Led by local ELICOS students in conjunction with members of the Conference Program Committee, the tour will take delegates through some of Melbourne’s famous sites while offering an opportunity to see the city through the eyes of the students who live and study there. It promises to be a relaxed way to explore Melbourne, meet fellow conference attendees and gain insight into students’ experiences of living in Melbourne and what different places mean to them. The tour provides a fitting beginning to a conference centred on stories, connection and transformation.
Together, these experiences demonstrate what makes this year’s conference theme so meaningful in recognising students as active participants in the conversation about English language education.
The 2026 English Australia Conference runs from 16–18 September 2026 at Pullman East Melbourne. Visit the conference website to explore the program further: https://www.eaconference.com.au
Rachel Winton is the Professional Ddevelopment and Communications Coordinator at English Australia.
