Dr Deborah Netolicky is an award-winning E-12 school leader with over 25 years of experience driving excellence and human flourishing in top independent schools. She is an Australian School Principal committed to building futures-looking school cultures of trust, inclusivity and rigour. She leads with a philosophy of ‘high care and a culture of excellence, built together’, specialising in iterative, contextually-sensitive school change. Her leadership combines rigorous evidence-based approaches with relational practice and judicious governance to deliver first-rate educational experiences, cultures of trust and excellence, and purposeful school growth.

She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Company Directors Course and holds a PhD in school leadership and educational change.

Deborah is additionally Adjunct Senior Fellow at Adelaide University and Board Member at the Australian Council for Student Voice. She researches and writes around school leadership, education, professional learning, and leading change in schools.

She is author of the book Transformational professional learning: Making a difference in schools, co-Editor of Flip the System Australia: What matters in education, and Editor of Future Alternatives for Educational Leadership: Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Democracy.

You can hear more from Deborah through this blog and her podcast The Edu Salon, as well as on Instagram as @theeduflaneuse and @theedusalon, and via Google Scholar.

Awards

2026. Principal of the Year – Non-Government – Excellence Awardee, National Education Awards.

2024. Principal of the Year – Non-Government – Excellence Awardee, National Education Awards. ACEL SA Media Award, Australian Council of Educational Leaders SA.

2023. ACEL Hedley Beare Award for Educational Writing, Australian Council of Educational Leaders. The Educator Australia. Hot List and Most Influential Educator. Emerald Publishing Award for Excellence – Outstanding Paper – for ‘Defining and exploring pracademia: identity, community, and engagement’.

2022. Most Influential Educator, The Educator Australia. Hot List and Most Influential Educator, The Educator Australia.

2021. Certificate of Excellence in Educational Leadership, Australian Council of Educational Leaders WA. The Michael Fullan Emerging Scholar in Professional Capital and Community Award, Journal of Professional Capital and Community. Educational Change Emerging Scholar Award, American Educational Research Association.

2018. Research in Educational Leadership and Management, Australian Council of Educational Leaders WA.

2017. Emerald Publishing Award for Excellence: Emerald Literati Highly-Commended Paper Award for ‘Coaching for professional growth in one Australian school: “oil in water”‘, published in the International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education.

2016. Outstanding Research Award in Cognitive Coaching, for my PhD dissertation, Thinking Collaborative. ‘New Voice’ In Educational Leadership Research Scholarship, Australian Council of Educational Leaders.