Four days, 175 students, and fresh solutions to a challenge most businesses grapple with. Here's what Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand took away from partnering with UNSW Business School for their annal Girls in Business Camp
AI is rapidly transforming work across industries. So how do future professionals learn to work alongside the technology and develop the skills they need to succeed in an evolving workforce?
That’s the challenge 175 female high school students set out to solve at the 2026 UNSW Girls in Business Camp.
Joshua Ang, Careers Engagement Manager NSW at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), says technological change is the biggest challenge current high school students are facing – and they need to start preparing now.
“AI is not going anywhere and it's impacting everyone in different ways. In accounting, we're seeing it as a positive. It takes away menial tasks and allows accountants to add more value to organisations and clients.”
CA ANZ was one of the 14 organisations that partnered with UNSW to bring the 2026 Girls in Business Camp to life. This year, the program focused on building future-ready skills, equipping students with the mindset, and capabilities to thrive in an AI-driven world. Joshua sees these as critical in allowing students to use the tools more effectively and contribute the right way.
“It's great that the university puts on these sorts of events, taking an active role in shaping and inspiring the next generation.”
As an industry association, CA ANZ sees part of its role as influencing, supporting and inspiring the next generation of accountants.
“We do a lot of work at high schools to get young people interested in pursuing accounting because the number of students considering it has dropped in recent years,” says Joshua.
CA ANZ wants to dispel myths around the profession being seen as boring, traditional or at risk of disappearing because of AI, that play a part in the declining interest in the field. With a focus on helping young people understand the exciting opportunities a career in accounting offers.
That’s part of the reason the organisation decided to partner with UNSW Business School for its annual Girls in Business Camp.
“We want to demonstrate how the accounting profession is evolving,” Vishwas Singh, Chair of the New South Wales Young Chartered Accountants (NSW YCA) panel says.
“Today's accountants are strategic advisers, problem-solvers and technology-enabled professionals who help organisations make better decisions. This camp allows us to showcase that and inspire students to see accounting and business in a new light.”
The four-day camp is designed for girls in Years 10 – 12 who are curious about a career in business.
It combines education, empowerment, innovation and the future of business and exposes students to real-world business challenges and university and work environments, while helping them build their confidence.
To support young people, CA ANZ developed a student membership platform, Next CA. The platform offers students and recent graduates a community, helps build their understanding of accounting, connects them to the profession and provides career support.
The organisation also wants to use the platform to equip future accountants with the skills and knowledge to work alongside AI. And the Girls in Business Camp offered the perfect opportunity for CA ANZ to hear from end users to help design solutions that are fit for purpose, suitable and of interest to future accounting professionals.
“Students’ perspectives on how they learn, use technology and make career decisions are incredibly valuable to CA ANZ,” Vishwas says.
“Their ideas can help us understand how accounting is perceived today and how we can better communicate the opportunities that exist within the profession for the future.”
As a lead partner, the organisation worked with UNSW to develop the camp’s case competition challenge: How can CA ANZ help the next generation of professionals become AI-ready while preserving the human skills that make accountants trusted advisors?
“One of the greatest strengths high school students bring is a completely fresh perspective,” says Vishwas. “They aren't constrained by years of industry experience or established ways of thinking, which means they can challenge assumptions and approach problems differently.”
A few ideas from the top x7 top pitches, selected to go through to the final 2026 GIB Case Competition from 27 groups in total, and ideas that were developed in just four days included;
And for the 175 students in the room, the value of the camp well goes beyond pitching – it was also the first time many could picture themselves in a career in business.
The Girls in Business Camp is one way the university brings to life equity, diversity, and inclusion at UNSW Business School. The program helps girls go beyond the classroom to ignite their ambition, build confidence, and open doors to future careers.
This mission aligns well with CA ANZ’s values.
“Gender, background or other factors like these should not influence what career people feel they can pursue,” Joshua says. “Making sure people understand the accounting profession is a great one that opens doors to great organisations all around the world is really important to us.”
And while the accounting profession isn’t male-dominated, the opportunities it provides could take women into male dominated sectors.
2026 GIB Case Competition Judge, Hannah Bryant is an NSW YCA panel member and the Finance Manager at Taylor Construction. She has been working in the male-dominated construction industry for years and knows first-hand the importance of having other women’s support.
“I want to show girls a career in accounting doesn't have to be at a stock standard accounting firm. You can work in any industry and still receive a lot of support. Having attended NSW YCA events and had that support myself, I see the importance of doing that in return for others,” she says.
Meeting other women in the profession can also inspire girls to pursue pathways and opportunities they may never have considered otherwise.
“Sometimes students don't pursue a particular pathway simply because they haven't seen what it looks like in practice or haven't met people working in those fields,” says Vishwas. “Through this camp, we can help bridge that gap.”
And for CA ANZ, the program offered direct input from the students who will shape the profession's future, an early connection to the next generation of talent, and a visible platform to demonstrate its commitment to diversity in the industry.
Learn more about the Girls in Business Camp here.