About the event

Join us in Canberra!

After two years of state-based and on-demand offerings, the Compass Student Leaders' Conference made a return to its traditional format as a national conference in Canberra, 2023. We are excited to have the opportunity again to gather in Canberra for the 2024 Student Leaders Conference. It presents a strategic opportunity to gather key student leaders from around the country, in our nation's capital, to intentionally focus on their formation.

The Student Leaders' Conference is primarily for Year 12 student leaders. Through the Biblical themes of creation, fall and redemption, students will be encouraged to wrestle with how their faith, life, and leadership connect. 

Our hope at Compass is that, as student leaders are formed by the Biblical story and its vision for life, and as they consider how they are invited to participate in God’s unfolding story for the world, they might be inspired in their leadership at school and the opportunities they will have across their lifetime. Simply put, our hope is that:

  • their imagination might be transformed
  • they might wrestle with the implications of the gospel for every facet of our culture
  • they might bring life and creativity and blessing to our world

Compass is committed to supporting schools to develop leaders with a Christian imagination. Our hope is that students in Christian schools across Australia become leaders who:

Know the Gospel. Know Culture. Translate

Event Information

The 2024 Compass Student Leaders Conference will feature a new 4-star venue, high-quality teaching from our experienced Compass faculty, visits to Parliament House and the Australian War Memorial, and the famous Compass bush dance. 

Click the links below to access the relevant resources for the event: 

Delivery options

In 2024, delivery of the Compass event will only be held in person at the Pavilion on Northbourne (242 Northbourne Avenue, Dickson ACT 2602).

How to Register

You will need to download and complete the Compass 2024 Registration Template to complete your registration. You can download this template here.

  1. Click on the 'Register Now' button
  2. Fill in the Conference Registration form
  3. Halfway through the form, you will find a download link to the COMPASS 2024 Registration Template. Download the template and complete the attendee details. Once the template is completed, save it as: Yourschoolname_Compass24
  4. Returning to the Registration Form, upload your completed template file (Yourschoolname_Compass24, in the space provided
  5. Complete the rest of the Registration Form and submit

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Download the Registration Template

Register Now

Who is the event for?

The Student Leaders Conference is aimed at Year 12 emerging student leaders who have demonstrated the potential to be influencers for Christ in society. Students who are willing to thoughtfully and actively engage will benefit the most. The Student Leaders Conference is open to any student in Year 12 in 2023 who wishes to thoughtfully integrate faith and life. This learning event is designed to encourage creative, thoughtful and motivated students to ground lifelong self-leadership in the truth of scripture.

Content Covered

Together we explore the following topics and themes:

  • Story and world view
  • God and Creation 
  • Being made in the image of God
  • Jesus the Christ
  • Fall and lament
  • New heavens and new earth
  • Engaging in culture and the mission of God
  • Gospel centred self-leadership

Faculty, facilitators and hosts

Compass is well known for the calibre of its teaching faculty who generously donate their time to keep costs low. Faculty are available throughout the conference and love to engage with students and teachers to go deeper.

Speakers

Mark Ryan
Executive Officer, Christian Schools Australia

Mark has a background in both education and theology and has a passion for exploring the intersection of faith and culture. After beginning his career as a PE teacher, he went on to study theology and ministry at Morling College in Sydney and has since completed a Master of Educational Leadership. Mark lives in Adelaide with his wife and three children, loves all things sport, and cycling through the beautiful Adelaide hills. Mark has worked as a pastor, teacher, and Assistant Principal, and is currently an Executive Officer for Christian Schools Australia. At a national level, he is invested in the formation of students and staff in CSA schools. Mark has been involved with the work of Compass for the last 15 years, and he loves to see student leaders gather each year, explore the Biblical story, and be inspired to lead according to the pattern of Jesus – living as God’s image for the sake of others and for the whole of God’s creation.

Graham Stanton
Lecturer, Ridley College

Graham is a Lecturer in Practical Theology at Ridley College, Melbourne, and the Director of the Ridley Centre for Children’s and Youth Ministry. His latest research is exploring how young Australians experience and understand God and the stories of how those beliefs have been formed. Graham lives in Melbourne with his wife and three young adult children. Graham enjoys long distance running in order to compensate for his hobby of enjoying cooking good food or eating good food that other people have cooked. Apart from Jesus, his personal heroes include Bruce Springsteen and Leslie Knope.

Erica Jones
Development Manager - Individual Programs, Seed

Erica brings over two decades of diverse experience in ministry, leadership, and management roles, including serving as a Lead Pastor, working in the Drug and Alcohol sector, and contributing to the Mental Health and Youth sectors. Her qualifications include a Post Grad degree in Theology, an MA in Leadership, an MBA in Project Management, and Coaching Accreditation. Outside of her professional life, Erica is dedicated to her family, enjoying life with her husband, four children, and two sons-in-law. She finds joy in outdoor activities like hiking and water sports, along with a love for her dogs and HOT weather. Erica is a dynamic leader with a strong commitment to positive change and family values.

Jeff Nagle
Director, Heritage Leaders

Jeff heads up leader-formation consultancy, Heritage Leaders and is also campus pastor at Coast Community Church on the NSW Central Coast. Prior to this, Jeff served as CEO of the Compass Foundation from 2017- 2019 and was co-founder of ethical supply-chain analytics firm, FairSupply. Jeff has worked for nearly two decades in the international development sector, serving as COO with Compassion Australia, CEO of International Justice Mission Australia and currently serves as Chairman of MAF Australia. Jeff’s area of interest is the formation of leaders and teams in difficult contexts. Jeff has qualifications in visual arts and media, education and business, and holds a Masters Degree in Global Leadership through Fuller Seminary. Jeff lives on the NSW Central Coast with wife, Shelley, and two teenage children. He still thinks he’s a surfer.

Matt Stackhouse
Chaplain

Originating from Canada, Matt moved to Australia and then the US and then back and forth a bunch of times growing up, which explains his weird accent. He loves teenagers most of the time, which has helped him teach year 7-12 for 20 years. He's married to Natalie, who has been lovingly patient with him for nearly 25 years (hard to believe he’s that old!), they have three spirited girls who keep them on their toes. He’s worked as a Chaplain, helping young people explore and deepen their faith and had some pretty incredible experiences leading teams of students to Manila, Darwin and Nepal as a Missions Coordinator. Matt has degrees in Business and Theology and a Master’s in Education…but he doesn’t have a PHD like Graham and he probably won’t ever get one. Currently, he directs an entrepreneurship program that trains, equips and develops student entrepreneurs. He also sometimes gets to do some coaching and consulting with Jeff at Heritage Leaders, he absolutely loves that. As much as possible, he tries to get in the ocean, have meaningful conversations with friends, be with his family and help people gain a deeper understanding of their identity, purpose and vocation.

"The atmosphere during this conference was amazing! I am looking forward to going to school confident in my faith and knowing that I have grown closer to others in my team.”
"Compass Conference was an incredible opportunity to grow in biblical understanding of what it means to be made in God’s image, and what it means to be a leader. Rather than learning this by ourselves, it was awesome to be able to do this in a community of student leaders."
Samuel, Head Prefect.

A little about Compass

By hosting places of intensive formation, Compass aims to encourage people to:

  • Ground their self-leadership in the full arc of the Biblical story
  • Participate in God’s project of renewal in all of life’s domains, and
  • Lead just lives, marked by the sovereign order of relations between God, people and all creation.

Learn more

Compass Conference Details

Date: 1-5 March 2024

Delivery: In Person

Venue: Pavilion on Northbourne (242 Northbourne Ave, Dickson ACT)

Registrations Close: 1st February 2024

Conference Costs

Students: $925 +GST

Staff: $925 +GST 

Costs include accommodation, catering and activities.

How to register

  1. Click on the 'Register Now' button
  2. Fill in the Conference Registration form
  3. Halfway through the form, you will find a download link to the COMPASS 2024 Registration Template. Download the template and complete the attendee details. Once the template is completed, save it as: Yourschoolname_Compass_2024
  4. Returning to the Registration Form, upload your completed template file in the space provided
  5. Complete the rest of the Registration Form and submit 

Register Now

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Student Leaders' Conference for Year 12 student leaders

Register Now