From a Backpack and a Near-Missed Flight to the Frontlines of University Change

When I sat down with Tom Gifford, I knew we’d end up talking about international education. What I didn’t quite expect was that we’d begin with a backpacker visa panic, a wrongly dated Qantas ticket, and one very stern airline employee who may, in her own quiet way, have changed the course of his life.Because that’s the thing about conversations like this one. What starts as a chat about careers and universities quickly becomes something bigger. In Tom’s case, it’s a story that runs from Birmingham to Sydney, through the APY Lands of remote South Australia, into state government, on to the University of Adelaide, and eventually into a major leadership role at RMIT. Along the way, there are stories about service, community, mobility, ambition, and the very human moments that shape a life more than any carefully laid plan ever could.Tom is thoughtful, grounded and refreshingly practical. He talks with real warmth about the communities he worked with early in his career, the complexity and energy of university life, and the challenge, and opportunity, of making student experiences better at scale. There’s also a fascinating thread running through this episode about admissions, AI, and what it might actually mean for universities to embrace change rather than simply talk about it. In this episode, we get into:Tom’s very British backpacker arrival in Australia, and the airport moment that nearly went very differentlyworking in remote South Australia with young Indigenous students preparing for employment opportunitiesthe sense of community and care that left a lasting impression on himhow a single cold email led to an unexpected role in South Australian state governmentthe winding path into international education, and eventually into leadership at RMITwhy admissions might be one of the most important, and most overlooked, parts of the student experiencethe way AI is already reshaping universities, from student support to leadership thinkingwhy Delhi is one of Tom’s favourite places in the world, and what he loves about its energy and chaosthe challenge of leading at scale while still keeping sight of the individual student journey What I enjoyed most about this conversation is that Tom never sounds abstract, even when he’s talking about very big things. Whether it’s an admissions system, a team of 180, a walk through Delhi, or a memory from the outback, he brings it back to people. To service. To human potential. To that little spark that can change someone’s direction.And maybe that’s what sits at the heart of this episode. Not just leadership, or strategy, or the future of universities, but the reminder that careers are often shaped in messy, unexpected ways, by landscapes, by timing, by risk, by luck, and by the people who decide to back us when they don’t have to. Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Angelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website. This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email [email protected]