Primary Job Title Vice-Chancellor Primary Organization 
Federation University Australia
Location Ballarat, Victoria, Australia Regions Asia-Pacific (APAC), Australasia Gender Male
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David Battersby has a first class honours degree and a PhD from the University of Waikato in New Zealand and a masters degree in higher education from the University of New South Wales. His PhD was awarded in 1981 in the field of sociology.
Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ballarat in July 2006, he held various
senior appointments at Charles Sturt University in New South Wales over nearly two decades. These included the positions of Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Head of Campus and Dean of Faculty.
Battersby also worked in New Zealand at Massey University for a period of eight years. He is the recipient of awards from the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Scheme, the Commonwealth Relations Trust, the Australian-Japan Foundation and the British Council. He has undertaken consultancies for UNESCO and the OECD and a number of government agencies.
In his early academic career he taught and researched in teacher education and the sociology of education. He subsequently developed interests in gerontology and gerontological education, human resource management and development in the health professions, international education and higher education policy and has published in these areas.
He has been involved in a range of community initiatives including establishing a Commonwealth-funded GP training consortium, serving on a TAFE Council and being on the Boards of a regional music conservatorium and a regional art gallery. Battersby is currently Chair of the Australian Regional Universities Network (RUN), Chair of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, Chair of Education Australia Limited, and a member of the Board of Directors of IDP.
