Tom believes that learning should be informative and a fun experience. He likes nothing more than taking students on the road. His students sample life in Outback New South Wales. He introduces them to the mining community around Broken Hill, and the endless expanses of Eldee Station and the Mundi Mundi Plain. They ride camels, visit the ghost town of Silverton and meet the indigenous custodians at Lake Mungo National Park. Students explore this and other Australian places and issues as part of Tom's Australian Idols: Exploring Contemporary Australia unit.

Tom also coordinates the Centre's undergraduate teaching program. As well as Australian Idols, he teaches across the Centre's sports units - Sport and Australian Society, A World of Sport and Australian Sports Writing - and the international relations unit, Australia in a Globalizing World.