Julie Tickle | Chief People Officer
TAFE NSW

Julie Tickle is a respected educational leader, with over two decades of experience in the VET sector as teacher, mentor and executive. In her role as Chief People Officer for TAFE NSW Julie oversees the attraction, development and retention of a capable, engaged, and adaptable workforce of over 15,000. She is responsible for ensuring TAFE NSW operates in a safe, diverse, and inclusive work environment, and her team ensures TAFE NSW has the capability to deliver the best outcomes through effective people and safety processes, policies, and programs. With TAFE NSW since 2002, Julie was initially a part-time casual teacher of Business based out of the Taree campus and remains dedicated to regional employment and educational outcomes throughout NSW.  She has held a wide range of positions including Head Teacher of both online and on-campus faculty teams, Business Development Consultant, Manager Curriculum Development, Faculty Director, Leader Organisational Workforce Development and Head of Organisational Development and Talent Management. Remaining dedicated to supporting individuals to reach their potential, Julie holds a Masters in Adult Education and Training, Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), Graduate Diploma of Education, Leadership and Sustainability and the current Cert IV Training and Assessment qualification in order to remain connected to teachers. She is an Alumni of the NSW Public Sector Leadership Academy and a keen mentor of emerging leaders in the sector. Julie is a member of the DEWR VET Workforce Blueprint Steering Committee, TAFE Director’s Australia Workforce Network and the National VET Educator Development Network. Her team designed and implemented the successful Paid to Learn teacher attraction and retention program to support an ongoing commitment to solving the VET teacher shortage in NSW, which has become the benchmark for innovative attraction strategies across the sector. Julie is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion and is a member of the NSW Public Service Disability Steering Committee, Co-chair of the TAFE NSW Diversity & Inclusion Council and executive sponsor of the Aboriginal Strategic Leadership Group and Aboriginal Employment Strategy. She has strategic oversight of the inaugural TAFE NSW Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Plan which launched in 2023 as well as TAFE Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, Disability and Inclusion Action Plan and Multicultural Action Plan.