David Coltman is the Chief Executive of TAFE SA, a position he has held since April 2019. David is also the Deputy Chair of TAFE Directors Australia and the Treasurer of Festival City Adelaide, the peak body for South Australian Festivals.

TAFE SA is the state government’s statutory corporation that provides an extensive range of vocational and higher education courses and qualifications aligned to the workforce requirements of South Australian industries. With more than 45,000 students, 30 campuses, and 2,000 staff, TAFE SA is required to provide sector leadership and support in vocational education delivery, and to ensure the Government’s policy position regarding workforce capability and capacity are delivered.

TAFE Directors Australia is the peak national body representing 28 TAFE institutes, including six dual sector universities with vocational education divisions and nine TAFEs that are also non-university higher education providers. Prior to joining TAFE SA in April 2019, David was Deputy Vice Chancellor at Swinburne University of Technology and Chair of the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA).

David is a Pakeha New Zealander, who made Australia his home in 2014. He lives in Eastwood, SA with his partner and two overly indulged dogs. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, David worked in the polytechnic sector, holding Executive leadership roles with ‘student’, ‘access’ and ‘quality’ portfolios.

David holds postgraduate qualifications in Adult Education and Public Administration. His early career work focused on the delivery of programs that sought to increase participation in higher education of underrepresented communities. He also worked to build sector capability, and to create access for industry to a wider talent pool, through models of horizontal and vertical integration between institutions.

Since making Australia home, but prior to the COVID pandemic, David’s work focus shifted to look at the use of digital technologies to improve access and participation in post- compulsory education, whilst also ensuring students were able to succeed in the increasing digitized future work environments