17/04/2025
Jo Ingold FIEP’s story is one of life-long learning and better supporting people to find sustainable employment.
And these themes are central to her motivation for becoming a Board Member here at IEP Australia.
“IEP Australia has much to offer, offering the only global institute accredited learning in the world and a global network of practitioners and Fellows to share a wealth of experience and ‘what works’ learning,” she says.
“I would like to see professional development be a standard feature of employment and skills services. This would have important benefits for clients – both individuals and employers – and for practitioners themselves.
“Enhancing the capability and sustainability of the employability workforce is key to delivering gold standard employment services.”
This focus on delivering high-quality services can be traced back to Jo’s formative years in the UK. After becoming the first person in her family to go to university, Jo joined the UK Department of Work and Pensions.
“I oversaw the evaluation of what were then called welfare-to-work programs at a time of particular policy interest in ‘contestability’, intermediate labour markets and learning from other countries. I subsequently moved to the Department for Education and Skills, working first on Investors in People policy and then in Organisational Development.
“I never could shake off my interest in employability though so in 2005 I took leave from the civil service to do a master’s, and then a collaborative PhD with DWP, which compared the UK, Denmark and Australia’s interventions to support women from jobless couples into employment.”
Life eventually brought Jo to Australia for work, firstly with Deakin University before moving to Australian Catholic University, where she teaches Human Research Management and continues research on good work and employment services.
“It took me a few years to build relationships in the Sector, but I have been involved in the IEP for several years and became a Fellow in 2020.
“The IEP has long been a supporter of my research, and I have gained a great deal from the collective of Fellows, now a global collective, as well as from regular IEP events, news and of course the Summits.
“Professional development for the employability practitioners is so critical yet it continues to be a gap, highlighted by the Select Committee Inquiry and others.
“As a Board Member, I aim to be an advocate for IEP Australia, ensuring we have a strong value proposition for practitioners working in the Australian context.”
We are so privileged to have access to Jo’s expertise and experience as a member of our Board, which is led by Andrew Hills FIEP.
Thank you, Jo, for your enormous contribution to our Employability Sector.
