The Informed Reader: Mid-year Newsletter | August 2026

In a rapidly changing environment that has seen many changes in the publishing and regulatory landscape, Informit has started the year stronger, and well-positioned to respond quickly to change. We have adapted to the challenges by focusing on the priorities set at the beginning of the year: expanding Australian scholarship, strengthening our curriculum‑aligned offerings for schools and public libraries, and improving discovery and access across the platform. 

Product has advanced our 2026–27 roadmap, with active licensing, subject‑based hubs, and a refreshed search experience now underway. Explore Media has launched successfully, giving schools seamless access to more than one million videos and deepening our multimedia support for teaching and learning. Explore continues to grow with new subject areas, expanded curriculum coverage, and professional learning that connects educators with practical classroom strategies. 

Our First Peoples’ Lens remains central to Informit’s mission, with the upcoming Kummargii Yulendji Symposium, new Indigenous Scholars You Should Know interviews, and the announcement of the 2026 Cultural Fund recipients all reinforcing our commitment to Indigenous‑led knowledge and excellence. 

Commercially, the Sales team has directed its energy to completing the CAUL renewal discussions, strengthening consortium partnerships, increasing our trial numbers, and expanding our presence across key conferences. The challenge for the end of the year will be to continue that important development work, while working more closely on a one-to-one basis with our customers. As a business we will focus on bringing the Customer Success team deeper into our discussions to improve engagement with schools and use their valuable insights to improve our products and streamline the user experience. Customer Success will also continue their work on enhanced onboarding, training resources, and structured Health Checks with customers, ensuring subscribers get maximum value from Explore and Explore Media. 

Behind the scenes, the Platform and Production teams have delivered major technical improvements, expanded content across journals, conferences, books and media, and strengthened our publishing workflows and cybersecurity posture. Significant work has been done to improve discoverability and further refine our metadata, and we are already seeing the benefits from the collaborations in this area. 

The first half of 2026 has seen the team respond to the various challenges by coordinated effort, disciplined execution, and shared purpose. As we move into the second half of the year, we will continue building on this momentum, delivering our roadmap, and strengthening Informit’s impact across education, research and culture. 

Warm regards,

Malcolm Neil – Informit Director

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Update from the Product team

Laki Sideris | Head of Product

This year we set out a content and product strategy for 2026 and 2027, and we now have a clear roadmap for the year ahead. The photo above is from one of the strategy sessions. The focus is growing the collection: bringing more Australian scholarship onto the platform, deepening what we hold for schools and public libraries, and making all of it easier to find. Alongside that, we are cementing Explore as an essential resource for Australian schools, and Jessica’s update below has the detail on that work. None of this works without you, so we will be asking for your thoughts as each piece takes shape.

Active licensing. We have created a new Vendor Manager (Publishers) position, dedicated to seeking out the Australian scholarship our subscribers need and bringing it onto the platform. The role will also broaden the collection into content suited to Explore’s school and public library users, so teachers and students find more of what they need at the right level. If you publish an Australian journal, book series or research report, we would like to talk.

Discovery and design. We are reviewing the look and feel of the Informit search interface, and scoping subject based hubs to give the platform a browse and discovery surface for the first time. Each hub brings together the journals, books, conference proceedings and reports in a subject area with curated entry points and featured publishers. Hubs are for orientation and exploration, where search is for retrieval, and they also give librarians a clear view of the collection’s depth in a discipline. Prototyping starts later this year, and we will be seeking feedback from subscribers as we go.

Informit Media. Explore Media launched this year for schools. For universities, EduTV and TVNews will have a new entry point. We are building an Informit Media hub alongside the subject hubs so that EduTV’s tens of thousands of programs, the news archive of over 1.5 million stories from 2007, and the Screen Guides developed with ATOM and ACER are as easy to browse as journals and books.

First Peoples’ Lens. Informit continues its Indigenous led knowledge programs with the Indigenous Scholars You Should Know video series, the First Peoples’ Lens Cultural Fund, and the Kummargii Yulendji Symposium, co-convened with CAVAL. This year’s Symposium is shaping up to be the best yet, with three outstanding keynote speakers and registrations now open. In June, Dr Gretel Taylor and I presented at the AIATSIS Summit on Yugambeh Country with Dr Blayne Welsh, a Wailwan man and theatre academic. The Summit is one of the country’s major gatherings for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and researchers, and it was a privilege to be part of it. Our session introduced the First Peoples’ Lens program, screened excerpts from the Indigenous Scholars You Should Know interviews, and took up what it means to platform First Peoples’ excellence in contemporary Australia.

Finally, we are delighted to welcome Kate Moschetti back from parental leave. Many of our publishers and subscribers know Kate well, and it is good to have her back with us.

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Update from the Product: Explore

Jessica Darnell | Product Manager

Throughout 2026, Informit Explore has continued to expand its support for Australian schools and public libraries with new curriculum-aligned content, professional learning opportunities for teachers and librarians, and a focus on bringing multimedia into the Explore ecosystem. A major milestone was the launch of Explore Media, a curated educational video platform tailored to secondary schools. Integrated with Informit Explore, it supports seamless learning and research, enabling educators and learners to move effortlessly between video, analysis and authoritative content that deepens understanding and engagement.  

Explore Media has been developed to:

• Support media literacy and critical thinking
• Provide access to high-quality Australian and international screen content
• Integrate film and television resources into curriculum delivery
• Enable teachers to use multimedia alongside traditional research materials

Schools with Explore Media now have access to more than one million videos, including documentaries, films, television programs, screen education resources and Informit’s complete news archives, alongside Informit’s wider research collections and within Explore’s curriculum-aligned subject and topic categories.

Explore has also expanded its curriculum coverage with the addition of Science and Religion and Beliefs as new subject areas, providing curriculum-aligned topic overviews, activities, questions, and curated articles and videos for classroom use. Professional learning has also remained a key focus. Earlier this year, Informit delivered a ‘Back to School’ session where guest speakers from two schools shared real-world examples of how Explore has been successfully embedded within their teaching practice. We also ran a session on using media in the classroom in collaboration with Australian Teachers of Media with practical examples for English and Media Studies classrooms.

Join us for our upcoming webinar: Strengthening Science Classroom Practice with Australian Research on Thursday 27 August at 4.30pm. Science teacher and Research Fellow at ACER Agnes Bersee who will showcase how Explore’s science collection brings together research articles, Australian case studies, and locally relevant scientific perspectives that help students connect theory to real‑world contexts. With a specific focus on chemistry and other emerging fields, Agnes will demonstrate how these evidence‑based resources support inquiry‑based learning, strengthen research skills, and enrich STEM engagement across year levels. Register to attend here

• Watch the full recording here for “Back to school with Informit Explore: Practical strategies for teachers and librarians”
• Watch the full recording here for “From Clips to Context: Teaching with Video and Research Articles using Explore Media”

Looking ahead, subscribers can expect new Geography and Media Literacy topics across existing subject areas, a new Education subject area designed for teachers, additional Screen Guides and curated “Spotlight” collections of films and television series for Explore Media users, as well as a series of professional learning events in partnership with ASLA.

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First People’s Lens

Kummargii Yulendji Symposium

Informit and CAVAL are thrilled to co-convene Kummargii Yulendji Symposium 2026, an event focusing on how we describe, apply, and amplify First Peoples’ Knowledges and publications.

The conveners are excited to announce this year’s keynote speakers:

• Peter-Lucas Jones, CEO, Te Hiku Media (Aotearoa)
• Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Associate Dean of Science (Indigenous), University of Melbourne
• Dr Bianca Beetson AM, Executive Director, First Nations, Queensland Museum

Please find the full program here

2026 First Peoples’ Lens Cultural Fund Recipients Announced

Informit announced the recipients of the 2026 First Peoples’ Lens Cultural Fund in late June. The Cultural Fund is dedicated to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander projects in research and innovation, that prioritise digital sharing of knowledge. After a rigorous assessment process, Informit’s First Peoples’ Lens Steering Committee selected the four projects below to support:

• Brooke Wandin – $10,000
• Lauren Castino UWS Library – $10,000
• Indigenous Archive Collective – $5,000
• Natjul Indigenous Performing Arts, Kings Narrative & Dulwich Centre (David Denborough) – $5,000   

Thank you to everyone who applied. Informit’s First Peoples’ Lens Steering Committee were impressed with the number and quality of the applications. Informit looks forward to supporting the Cultural Fund recipients to deliver their valuable projects. We will be providing updates on these projects throughout the year and in our end of year newsletter.

New interviews with Indigenous Scholars You Should Know

Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Enid Nangala Gallagher and Maisie Napurrurla Wayne: Three senior Warlpiri Knowledge Holders discuss Southern Ngaliya Women’s Dance Project, its intergenerational benefits and their connections to Country and culture.

Watch Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Enid Nangala Gallagher and Maisie Napurrurla Wayne’s interview here

Dr Tiriki Onus is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung artist, academic and filmmaker, currently Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) at the University of Melbourne. Tiriki’s research specialism is in the histories and practices of Indigenous arts in south-eastern Australia.

Watch Tiriki’s interview here

Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher is a Wiradjuri scholar and Professor of Geography at the University of Melbourne, where he serves as Associate Dean (Indigenous) in the Faculty of Science. He is also Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures. His research investigates the long-term relationships between people, fire, and vegetation, using palaeoecological records such as pollen, charcoal, and geochemical proxies to reconstruct environmental change across Australia and the Indo-Pacific.

Watch Michael-Shawn’s interview here

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A Half-Year of Strategy, Momentum, and Growth

Amit Pattnaik | Head of Sales

As we reach passed the midpoint of 2026, the Informit Sales Team has focused on turning strategy into action across all markets.

At our January Sales and Marketing meeting, three priorities were established: growing Informit Explore sales in Australian schools, exploring international market opportunities, and securing a multiyear CAUL renewal from 2027 onwards to provide a stable foundation for future growth.

To support these goals, the team developed a comprehensive Sales Plan covering structure, budget, products, marketing, and market opportunities across schools, public libraries, universities, New Zealand, and international markets. A key insight was the importance of trial activations and regular customer engagement in both retaining and acquiring customers. With ELT endorsement, the team moved quickly into execution.

The CAUL renewal process has been underway since March, with a target of securing a 3-4 year agreement from 2027. Since June, the team has met with more than 30 universities and exhibited at CAUL Vendor Exhibitions in Wellington, Melbourne, and Sydney, strengthening relationships across the higher education sector.

Informit Explore has also had a strong first half. The team showcased Explore and the new Explore Media product at major education conferences including SLASA, ALEA, AATE, SLANSW, and ACSL. A particular highlight was strengthening consortium partnerships through a new MOU with WASLA and renewed agreements with SLAV and ASLA, reinforcing Informit Explore’s position as a trusted curriculum-aligned resource for schools.

Looking ahead, the team will continue progressing the CAUL negotiation, expanding school consortium partnerships, and evaluating opportunities for international growth.

Other highlights included:

• Celebrating Kat’s two-year anniversary with Informit in July.
• Attending Charleston Conference Asia in January and ALIA in May.
• Successful consortia renewals with EPIC (NZ), IHEA, and VGLS.
• Activating 60 Informit Explore trials, supporting trial-led growth.
• Malcolm’s attendance at the International Publishers Congress in Kuala Lumpur to explore international partnership opportunities.
• Amit’s transition from transactional sales to a stronger focus on strategic customer and partner relationships that support Informit’s long-term sustainability and mission.

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Update from the Customer Success team

Brooke Parker | Customer Success Manager

The Customer Success team has been busy progressing a number of key initiatives to strengthen support for Explore and Explore Media customers.

Knowledge Base Enhancements

We’ve significantly expanded our training resources for Informit Explore, including new video tutorials, updated user guides, and product-specific knowledge base articles to make it easier to find what you need. We’ve also reduced complex onboarding processes, so getting set up takes far less of your time.

Explore Customer Health Checks

We’ve commenced Health Check meetings with Explore customers, providing a structured opportunity to review platform usage and identify areas for further support. Each session explores:

• How Explore is currently being used across the school
• Approaches and resources that are working well for staff and students
• A review of authentication methods and access links
• Relevant updates, guidance and additional support to help customers continue building on their success

Later this year, you’ll hear from us about scheduling a health check. They are a chance to review your setup, make sure your discovery and access pathways are configured correctly, and talk through anything that isn’t working as it should.

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Update from the Production and Platform teams

Brendan Rowan | Head of Production and Operations

It’s been a massive 6 months, with so much happening in the backend of Informit. I’d like to start by saying thank you and farewell to Leanne Whitby and Liam Harding. Each have left their mark on the organisation, working to with passion, creativity, intelligence, and a commitment to excellence; ensuring that our customers and publishers have the best possible search, data, and UI experience when interacting with content on the search.informit.org or via our syndication partners. It’s a huge loss and while Leanne and Liam will be greatly missed, we wish them well on their travels and journey ahead.

Technically we’ve heavily invested into a couple of big goals, most notably an IT transition to Azure ELZ for our Maestro applications, services and publishing solution. This directly improves our Cybersecurity position, with our code base being migrated from Bitbucket to GitHub. These improvements allow us to aligned our code deployment activities across all Maestro application so that we can quickly and reliably deliver benefits to you via the search.informit.org platform for all Customers and Publishers.

In terms of Product development, the expansion of Explore Topic and Subject areas, as well as the soft launch of Explore Media, has allowed us to continue investing into  XML content styling and publishing capabilities. These enhancements are specifically targeted at supporting the learning design outcomes and audience engagement. 

In terms of new content if the first half of 2026, we’ve added…

• 3,000 recordings of films, documentaries, and TV Episodes for EduTV, and 33,000 segments and episodes for TVNews;
• 14 new journals –  including several continuing titles. Interesting new journals include several open access journals from CSIRO in the scientific and medical topic areas, the  Journal of Controversial Ideas, and the Journal of Vampire Studies.
• Digitised the complete archive of RIMA: Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs from 1967 onwards.
• 14 additions to established conferences and reports series, such as CAUTHE 2026, AAEE 2025 , and Stories That Matter.
• 3 new books from books from the Batchelor Institute.
• 5 new Informit Screen Guides.

With our legal content, in 2026 the focus has been on repairing back issues of our legal titles and ensuring that where we have licence, we include the PDF for as much of the content offering as possible. So far, with the help of publisher themselves and through open access websites we are progressively working through to completely backfill (including full text) our university law journals content (starting with the G8 titles, the UNSW Law Reviews and MELB Uni Law Reviews…) We are substantively through all the current titles, and are working through auditing and fixing some of the ceased titles.

To our publishers, thank you to everyone who has embraced Partner Dashboard to deliver new content to us. We’ve realised a number of benefits with this delivery option, simplifying the process to you, integrating this with our Maestro Text application, and ultimately improving our speed to market and associated benefits. If you’re yet to use Partner Dashboard, don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions as we’d be happy to support you in the delivery and publishing of your latest content.

We look forward to building on our position in the second half of 2026 and into 2027 and beyond. 

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What’s new on EduTV

Paul Stock | Media Curator

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Upcoming events and conferences

September

3-4 September

National Education Summit Melbourne – Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

7-8 September

PLV (Public Libraries Victoria) Conference – Rydges Melbourne

15 September

Kummargii Yulendji Symposium – RMIT University’s Storey Hall: This symposium offers a forum for the movement and communities that are Indigenising the research, libraries, and publishing sector, presenting many perspectives towards re-visioning colonial structures and systems.

Register your attendance both in-person and online here

October

14-16 October

QPLA – Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane

23 Oct

QSLA – State Library of QLD

November

2-6 November

Charleston Conference – Charleston Gaillard Center, the Francis Marion Hotel, and the Courtyard by Marriott Charleston Historic District Downtown Charleston, SC, USA

3-5 November

VALA – Melbourne Connect

10-13 November

SWITCH – Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC)

20 November

SLAV – Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre