MinterEllison appoints Craig Barling as partner in Education consulting practice
MinterEllison has recruited former University of Tasmania and Deloitte senior leader Craig Barling as a partner in its education consulting practice out of Melbourne.
Barling has been with the University of Tasmania for thirteen years, most recently as deputy vice-chancellor for student services & operations. Previous roles included chief strategy officer and CFO, having earlier started his career at Deloitte.
Law firm MinterEllison established its education consulting practice in the latter part of 2023 through a merger with Wells Advisory, and has more broadly been branching out into advisory in recent years with an additional focus on risk, technology, and cyber.
“Craig adds significant strategic and commercial depth to our market-leading education and regulatory offering and ensures we are well placed to support clients in an increasingly complex environment,” said practice leader Michael Wells. “His background in corporate finance and senior university leadership is exactly the blend of skills and lived experience our clients need.”
Barling left UTAS at the end of last year, with the 180 year-old institution, like many of Australia’s other universities, facing major market challenges during his time there. His other roles included executive director for transformation, with Barling credited with leading a number of major reform initiatives including strategy development, new campus models, and the implementation of AI.
Originally joining the university as chief financial officer in 2013, Barling earlier worked in corporate finance roles at News Corp, before which he kicked off his career with thirteen years at Deloitte after graduating UTAS with a commerce degree in accounting and finance in 1997 – with, incidentally, UTAS vice-chancellor Rufus Black last year joining the Deloitte board.
“I am excited to be joining MinterEllison at such a pivotal time for the education sector,” Barling said. “The practice has built an outstanding reputation in regulatory and governance advisory, and there is a significant opportunity to build on that with deeper commercial capability, particularly as universities and other providers navigate mergers, restructures, and major strategic change.”
Barling’s appointment meanwhile adds to the growing Big Four experience at Minters, including the seven partners poached from PwC in 2024 and chief clients & markets officer Anna Szabo, who crossed from her marketing & business development COO role at Deloitte in the same year. In 2018, the firm made the then radical move of recruiting former CEO Annette Kimmitt from EY.
