Dr Andrew Higgins is Director of Flexible Learning on the senior management team at the Auckland University of Technology. The University of Otago formerly employed him as senior lecturer in flexible learning. His background includes many years service with the Queensland Government in Australia, working variously in the Office of the Cabinet, as senior policy officer with Education Queensland, as Manager of the Queensland Police Service's Distance Education program, as Services Officer for AccessEd , as Co-ordinator of the Rural Secondary Schools Support Scheme and as a teacher. He has held appointments at the University of Western Australia, James Cook University and the University of Queensland.

He holds the degrees PhD, MEd, BEd and a Diploma of Teaching. His main area of study was in the provision of education to remote and isolated students.

Andrew has been President of DEANZ and of the Australian Rural Education Research Association. He presently a member of the DEANZ executive and organised the Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open and Distance Learning in 2004, and the DEANZ conference in 2006.