Libby Hackett, a well-known higher education policy expert in Australia and the UK, has joined Nous Group in its Sydney office, enhancing the award-winning consultancy’s education practice.

Libby has spent 20 years in the university and school sectors, holding senior roles in government, parliament, peak bodies, a think tank and private sector consultancy in both countries.

Tim Orton, Managing Director of Nous Group, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Libby as a Principal at Nous. In a complex higher education environment, the insights and experience that Libby brings will be invaluable to our clients in the sector. She complements our already strong team of some of Australia’s leading higher education consultants.”

Libby, who began work with Nous at the start of July, said: “I’m delighted to be joining the outstanding higher education team at Nous. I’m looking forward to supporting our government and our universities once again as they continue to transform lives, recast our future through research and discovery, help shape communities across Australia, and drive our changing global economy. Universities are the engine rooms of innovation.”

Throughout her career, Libby has played a pivotal role in developing national higher education policy, funding and regulatory solutions in two countries and has advised universities as they navigate changing environments. She is highly regarded as someone who finds positive and pragmatic solutions to complex problems.

Before joining Nous, Libby was CEO of University Alliance in the UK and then a partner at Perrett Laver in Sydney and global head of its Government and Public Policy Practice. She studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, was a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Global Higher Education, and was named one of the UK’s Education Reformers of the Year by the Education Foundation for work promoting social mobility and access to higher education.