Career Journeys of Australian Economists - March 2021 - Consortium for ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Career Journeys of Australian Economists March 2021
What does an economist actually do? What are the career opportunities for somebody who studies economics? Launching on International Women's Day 8 March 2021, Career Journeys of Australian Economists brings you the stories of 37 economists around Australia. Featuring CEOs, Chief Advisors, Principal Economists, Commissioners, Deputy Secretaries, Academics, and so much more. Read about the various roles each participant has had over their careers, the opportunities which studying economics has brought them, and their most memorable moments as economists. Career Journeys of Australian Economists is available on the Women in Economics Network website. We encourage you to share this resource with students considering studying economics, early-career economists who are curious about the opportunities ahead of them, and with friends and family who have ever asked you "...economist... so what does that actually mean?" A huge thank you to all of the economists who participated.
Amy Auster
Chief Adviser
Commonwealth Treasury
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Chief Adviser, Commonwealth Treasury Over the course of my career, my role has
• Advisory Board, APEC RMIT Study Centre evolved from primarily undertaking my own
• Advisory Board, York Butter Factory in-depth analysis to leading teams and
• Research Fellow, Monash Business School working with and through people to identify
market function problems and find solutions.
Selected previous roles:
• Deputy Secretary, Victorian Department of Studying economics has allowed me to:
Treasury and Finance Develop and hold a conceptual framework to
• Executive Director, Australian Centre for analyse problems and develop solutions that
Financial Studies will be based in first principles and backed by
• Global Head, Marketing and Client rigorous analysis. This framework also helps
Engagement, ANZ Bank me to influence decision makers as the
• Chief of Staff, CEO Institutional and analysis is consistent, and grounded in
International Banking, ANZ Bank incentives that policymakers can appreciate
• Head of FX Strategy and International and understand.
Economic Research, ANZ Bank
• Principal Consultant, ACIL Tasman A memorable moment in my career was:
• Vice President, Emerging Markets Research, When the Victorian Department of Treasury
JPMorgan and Finance was held up by State Treasurers
through CFFR as the exemplar for tax policy
Education advice amid discussions on GST allocation
• Columbia University, Master of Arts in reform.
Economics and Finance When Victoria launched its first Social Impact
• London School of Economics, exchange Bonds.
student When papers I had authored at the Australian
• Northwestern University, Bachelor of Arts Centre for Financial Studies were widely
(honours), Medill School of Journalism published on research sites.
When a senior member of my staff told me
Day-to-day my current role includes: that I had created a work environment where
• Providing policy advice to Government she felt truly able to be herself at work for the
• Translating Government priorities to first time in her career.
implementable legislation and initiatives
• Engaging with the private, community and
not for profit sectors to identify trends and
issues, and find solutions
• Leading teams and mentoring staff,
including in applied economics and finance
Janine Bialecki
Principal Economist
ACCC
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Principal Economist, Australian Competition I reported directly to the Minister /
and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Government at both BETA and Treasury.
The ACCC is a regulator which makes
Selected previous roles: decisions in its own right. This gives the ACCC
• Behavioural Economics Adviser, Behavioural a bit more freedom and flexibility, but it also
Economics Team of the Australian means we’re one step removed from policy
Government (BETA) makers. Both have advantages and
• Economic and Policy analyst – included disadvantages, but I really enjoy the direct
macroeconomic forecasting, competition tangible impact I can have on consumer
policy, bank policy, investor protection. welfare at ACCC.
• Commonwealth Treasury
• Finance Tutor, ANU Studying economics has allowed me to:
Have the tools and frameworks so that I can
Education provide considered advice across a wide
• MSc in Economics, Specialising in range of policy and regulatory issues.
Behavioural Economics and Game Theory Studying behavioural economics has given me
• Graduate Diploma in Economics a deeper appreciation of human decision
• Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice making, which has been especially valuable
• Bachelor of Finance for understanding the demand-side of
• Bachelor of Laws markets.
Day-to-day my current role includes: A memorable moment in my career was:
The ACCC promotes competition and fair Working on the Competition Policy Review
trading to help “make markets work”. while I was at Treasury. It’s usually only once in
As part of the in-house economics team, I a generation that a government commissions
have huge variety in the cases I contribute to. a stocktake of such a broad and important
In a given day I might: policy area. I worked with colleagues from a
• Work with a mergers team to assess the range of backgrounds, consulted with people
economic impacts of a proposed merger directly affected by proposals, and helped
• Use behavioural insights to advise on the craft recommendations designed to make a
design of a refund scheme for consumers positive difference to Australia's economy.
who have been misled
• Assess whether a contract clause might
substantially lessen competition in a
particular market
• Work with a market studies team to
understand barriers to consumer
engagement in a particular market.
Catherine Birch
Senior Economist
ANZ
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Senior Economist, Australian economics My current role has much more client
team, ANZ Research, ANZ Bank interaction than previous roles. I do a lot of
presentations to clients, although most in
2020 have been virtual rather than in-person.
Selected previous roles: This has helped me to improve my public
• Senior Economist/Policy Adviser at speaking skills and I’m now a lot more
Department of Economic Development, comfortable presenting in front of an
Jobs, Transport and Resources audience and speaking to high level clients.
• Environmental Economist at Namibia
Nature Foundation
• Economic Analyst at BIS Oxford Economics Studying economics has allowed me to:
Work overseas, meet lots of interesting people
from different fields and explore issues that
Education I’m interested in. It’s enabled me to think
• Master of International and Development through problems and questions using an
Economics, ANU, 2015 economic framework – not only on
• Bachelor of Commerce, Deakin Uni, 2010 macroeconomic events and policy but also on
social, environmental and other issues.
Day-to-day my current role includes:
Economic analysis, forecasts and research A memorable moment in my career was:
focusing on the labour market, business and Presenting the results of our national and
infrastructure investment, ESG and the regional studies on the economics of land
broader Australian economy. degradation related to bush encroachment in
Namibia to the government’s steering
Presentations to staff, stakeholders and committee and other stakeholders to secure
external clients. funding for a consolidated program of de-
bushing.
Catie Bradbear
Inquiry Manager
Productivity Commission
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Inquiry Manager, Productivity Commission The Commission is quite a different
• Committee member, ACT WEN organisation to many other parts of
Government. We are independent, and
Selected previous roles: operate at arms-length from Government.
• Senior economist and research economist, This means that we do not interact with
Productivity Commission. Ministers on a day-to-day basis and the
• Research assistant, Australian National Australian community can be confident that
University. the advice we provide is motivated only by
• Policy analyst, Commonwealth Treasury. the public interest. Further, unlike other
agencies, we have the luxury of time to
Education investigate a public policy issue, meaning the
• Bachelor of Economics, University of analysis we undertake is highly detailed.
Queensland.
• Master of Economic Studies, University of Studying economics has allowed me to:
Queensland. Studying economics has given me the
framework and tools to examine the
Day-to-day my current role includes: behaviours of real people and to think about
My role at the Productivity Commission is to how we can solve tricky real world problems.
take a deep dive into complex policy Ultimately, I believe that economics has
problems, such as inequality, disability care, enabled me to work towards improving the
resources regulation or skills. We generally lives of all Australians.
take around 12 months to investigate a
problem and provide policy A memorable moment in my career was:
recommendations to the Australian I have many memorable moments, but I
Government that will improve the wellbeing of always love meeting with the passionate
the community as a whole. In order to do this, people who are affected by the policy issue I
my day might involve talking to relevant am working on, whether they are farmers in
people in the community, consulting with Tasmania or businesses in Townsville. My role
experts in the field, gathering information has meant I have met people from all walks of
from other sources or conducting data life and from all around Australia.
analysis. We weigh up this evidence and
assess potential reform options. I also spend
much of my day immersed in writing, as the
final report we deliver to the Government is
essential for communicating our work to
policy makers and the community more
broadly.
Mary Cavar
Executive Manager
Productivity Commission
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Executive Manager of the Melbourne office My current role encompasses a lot of
of the Productivity Commission organisation-wide leadership, such as
• President of the Victorian Branch of the communication, risk management and
Economics Society of Australia workforce planning. I also need to have a
whole-of-organisation perspective on our
Selected previous roles: outputs, their quality and reception. My focus
• Director, Tax and Intergovernmental is broad. In previous roles, I was managing
Relations at the Victorian Department of specific inquiries or projects, and getting
Treasury and Finance – advising on revenue deeply immersed into that subject matter and
policy. then moving on to the next.
• Assistant Director, Macroeconomic
Forecasting & Fiscal Strategy and the Studying economics has allowed me to:
Victorian Department of Treasury and Economics – and especially economic policy –
Finance – economic monitoring and requires conceptual and analytical skills as well
forecasting. as creativity and empathy. The economics
• Economist and Senior Economist at the toolkit enables you to analyse so many
Reserve Bank of Australia – analysis of pertinent issues, from climate change to
various aspects of the Australian and financial crises, and opens the door to so
international economies. many career paths. And it’s the type of job
that is unlikely to be displaced by AI.
Education
• Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) A memorable moment in my career was:
• Diploma of Modern Languages Getting a notable tax reform implemented.
• Executive Master of Public Administration Making good policy takes time, from initial
concepts, to consultation, drafting legislation
Day-to-day my current role includes: and getting policy settings implemented. You
I’m responsible for planning and coordinating have to do it in an open and transparent way,
the Commission’s inquiry and research work, be open to ideas and adapt along the way,
supporting the development of staff, and and ultimately bring the community along
advising on analytical matters. A notable part with you.
of my job is maintaining the Commission’s
relationships with the economics community
in Melbourne, which neatly dovetails with my
role as President of the Victorian Branch of the
Economics Society of Australia.
Dr. Andrew Charlton
Founder and Director
AlphaBeta Advisors
Current role: Studying economics has allowed me to:
Have an understanding of many of the most
• Founder and Director, AlphaBeta Advisors interesting and important issues in the world
(part of Accenture), working on economic today.
and strategy problems for clients in the
public and private sector.
A memorable moment in my career was:
Working on the global financial crisis as part
Selected previous roles: of the government team and attending G20
• Founder of AlphaBeta meetings representing the Australian
• Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister government.
• Research Fellow at the London School of
Economics
Education:
• Doctorate of Economics, Oxford University
• Masters of Economics, Oxford University
Day-to-day my current role includes:
Working on economic and strategy problems
for clients in the public and private sector.
Karen Chester
Deputy Chair
Australian Securities &
Investments Commission
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Deputy Chair, Australian Securities & I have had senior economic roles in the
Investments Commission (ASIC) Australian Treasury, and partnerships and
CEO positions in the private sector at Mercer
Selected previous roles: and Access Economics. I have also held
• Deputy Chair & Commissioner, Productivity director positions on company boards and
Commission leadership roles on expert panels.
• Partner, Mercer, Global Head Infrastructure
• Partner, Access Capital Advisers
Studying economics has allowed me to:
• Chief Executive Officer, Access Economics Pursue my passion for good public policy
• Senior Executive, Australian Treasury and fair and efficient market outcomes. While
studying economics at university, I became
Education intrigued by how the power of public policy
• B. Economics (1st Honours), University of can affect peoples’ lives (having seen and
Queensland, 1986 experienced this first-hand during my
• Doctor of Economics honoris causa, childhood). I am especially keen on back to
University of Queensland, 2017 the dirt under the fingernail work of building
evidence-based policy and regulation. Along
Day-to-day my current role includes: with building a much stronger evaluation
Working with my fellow Commissioners to culture. Their absence means accountability
lead and over-see ASIC’s strategic direction is likely to remain elusive.
and objectives to achieve our vision for a fair,
strong and efficient financial system for all A memorable moment in my career was:
Australians. As a graduate, sitting in the then Prime
Minister’s Office (blending with the lamp
So, my role involves a lot of significant and shade as the silent note taker), as Rod Sims
difficult regulatory decisions every single day. (my boss) discussed with PM Hawke how to
As a financial-system conduct regulator, ASIC convince the ACTU to embrace tariff reform. I
is a decision-making engine. When and how mumbled (and was heard) ‘because tariffs
to monitor, to surveil, to protect, to disrupt, to screw workers’. A plan was hatched. A model
afford transparency, to provide regulatory built to estimate the regressive impact of
guidance, to impose licensing conditions, and tariffs on low income Australians. An
to litigate. Ultimately when and how to step in evidence base was formed. A case made.
and when and how to step back. In all of this And good public policy happened.
incentives and behavioural responses matter –
an economist’s ‘bread and butter.’
Belinda Cheung
Macro Strategist
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Director, Fixed Income and Currency I’ve extended my background in
Strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia macroeconomics and developed strong
• Councillor, Economics Society of Australia analytical capabilities across portfolio theory,
(NSW) asset allocation, risk analytics, and portfolio
construction.
Selected previous roles:
• Senior Economist and Manager, Reserve Studying economics has allowed me to:
Bank of Australia Economics has given me a framework to
• Secretary, Economics Society of Australia better understand the world. I’m able to take
(NSW) a complex system, break it down into its
components and analyse and predict
behaviour.
Education
• Master of Economics, UNSW I’m driven by a mindset of wanting to know
• Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Uni. of Sydney how and why things work. Studying
• Bachelor of Economics (Hons), Uni. of economics has given me the tools to do this.
Sydney
A memorable moment in my career was:
Day-to-day my current role includes: Hard to narrow down! I’ve had lots of
Story Telling (by turning data into pictures), incredible experiences including working on
and Myth Busting! the G20 (in Cairns), being heavily involved in
the running of my employer superannuation
I conduct research, develop trading ideas and fund (including investments) and publishing
communicate macroeconomic and financial research in peer-reviewed journals.
markets views. Much of my work is focussed
on identifying long term secular trends and All these experiences have involved
market dynamics to inform clients’ investment surrounding myself with the best people and
processes and decision making. collaborating on exciting initiatives.Carmela Chivers
Legislative Advisor to Sen. Jacqui Lambie
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Legislative Advisor to Sen Jacqui Lambie I was going deep on a single policy issue for a
number of months, rather than working across
lots of areas at once.
Selected previous roles:
• Associate, Grattan Institute
• Research Assistant, Sydney University
• Self-employed economics consultant Studying economics has allowed me to:
Set aside ‘gut feel’ and look for evidence
about whether a policy change is in the public
Education interest.
• Bachelor of Arts (Hons I): Political Economy
• Bachelor of Arts: Political Economy and
Economics A memorable moment in my career was:
Working for myself when I was a student at
university, constantly searching for new clients
Day-to-day my current role includes: and taking on wildly different projects. I did
everything from book editing, to market
• Making quick decisions on the fly; research, to running economics experiments.
• Rapid-fire policy analysis; It was enormous fun, but it didn’t exactly
• Explaining policy trade-offs to diverse provide a steady income stream…
audiences;
• Mapping the Australian public policy
landscape across different areas (e.g.
energy, health, social security);
• Weighing different policy perspectives;
• Asking questions (and looking for the right
people to answer my questions);
• Writing policy and providing drafting
instructions for legislation / amendments;
• Explaining to people that despite my
position title, I am not a lawyer – I’m a
proud economist!Dr Bethany Cooper
Senior Research Fellow
University of South Australia
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Senior Research Fellow, University of South My current role focuses on applying an
Australia economic lens to solve real word problems in
• Associate Director, Centre for Markets, the water sector. It focuses on delivering
Values and Inclusion, University of South impactful outcomes to society. My previous
Australia role as a lecturer focused on teaching
• Australian Water Association (AWA) university students.
Executive Committee (South Australia)
Studying economics has allowed me to:
Selected previous roles: • Understand different incentives that
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for motivate behaviour;
Water Policy and Management, La Trobe • Understand how and why people make
University trade-offs;
• Lecturer, School of Economics, La Trobe • Apply relevant economic tools to inform
University decision-making and optimise an outcome.
Education A memorable moment in my career was:
• PhD (Economics) Working in Laos to inform government
• Bachelor of Business (First Class Honours) decision making around infrastructure
investment options (i.e. fish passages) along
Day-to-day my current role includes: the Mekong River.
• Collaborating with a multi-disciplinary team
to solve real world problems associated The project aimed to improve the lives of
with water policy and management; some of the poorest and vulnerable people.
• Bringing an economic perspective to The outcome was recognised by the Asian
inform decision makers responsible for the Development Bank and used to inform their
allocation, supply and pricing of water poverty reduction strategies.
resources;
• Travelling to developing countries to better
understand and address water
management challenges;
• Delivering and presenting to academic and
industry audiences at events such as
international conferences.Dr Swee-Hoon Chuah
Professor of Economics
University of Tasmania
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Professor of Economics I did not have a line management role. My
• Head of Discipline, Economics & Finance, previous roles were more strategic than
Tasmanian School of Business & Economics operational. For example, when I was Deputy
Head of School (L&T), I was more focused on
Selected previous roles: devising initiatives that would develop and
• Deputy Head of School (Learning & Teaching. enhance L&T in the School, rather than on daily
L&T), School of Economics, Finance & people management. I am glad to have this
Marketing, RMIT University (2017-2018) opportunity, though. It is important to be
• Chair, Behavioural Business Lab, RMIT exposed to different things and to keep learning.
University (2015-2017)
• Deputy Director of MSc Programmes, Studying economics has allowed me to:
Nottingham University Business School, Apply economic thinking to everyday issues.
University of Nottingham (2011-2014) Economic thinking provides a clear and
structured lens through which to approach
Education decisions in all aspects of life. It helps un-muddle
• PhD (Nottingham), 2009 things! Studying economics also gives maximum
• MBA (Nottingham), 2003 flexibility in terms of choice of profession.
• B.Bus (UTS), 1998 Economists don’t just become “economists” :) -
• LLB (UTS), 1998 they become academics (like me!) analysts
(credit, risk, financial, market, policy etc),
Day-to-day my current role includes: consultants, reporters, managers (portfolio,
Broadly three things: (1) research, (2) teaching product etc), statisticians, actuaries, corporate
and (3) administration. My area of expertise is lawyers (with a double degree) and so on.
behavioural and experimental economics. In Studying economics trains rigorous thinking,
terms of research, I collect and analyse data in which all these professions value.
this area to address topical issues and
disseminate results mainly in the form of journal A memorable moment in my career was:
articles. Increasingly, I do consultancy work for When I got the call from UTAS saying:
NGOs and government agencies for which I “Congratulations! We are happy to offer you the
produce reports. In terms of teaching, I develop position of Professor in Economics”. There are
and deliver courses, introduce university still very (too!) few women economics professors
students to behavioural and experimental in Australia. It’s an honour to be among them.
economics, and then further their applied
knowledge and skills in this area. In terms of
administration, as head of discipline, I am the
line manager of the other economists in my
discipline. This latter role takes up quite a bit of
my time day-to-day.Lucille Danks
Manager
McKinsey and Company
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Engagement manager – McKinsey and I was focused on research. Over my career so
Company far, I’ve moved from academic research to
applied research and now business strategy,
Selected previous roles: where we draw on existing research to help
• Associate – McKinsey and Company businesses navigate major decisions, often in
• Associate – Grattan Institute environments of high uncertainty.
• Research assistant and tutor –
University of Queensland Studying economics has allowed me to:
Think clearly about complex problems!
Education
• Bachelor of Economics with Honours class I A memorable moment in my career was:
in econometrics, University of Queensland Carrying a piece of economics research from
• Diploma of Global Issues, University of innovation through to applied research and
Queensland better decisions on the ground.
Day-to-day my current role includes: I completed my honours research on new
Working with my team and global experts to approaches to measuring the safety of
help clients navigate major decisions and hospital care. It was an econometrics paper –
implement complex changes. lots of maths! – but I later had an opportunity
at Grattan Institute to apply the new approach
No two management consulting projects are to data on Australian hospitals, where we
the same – I’ve worked on designing found large variations in hospitals’ safety and
advanced analytics solutions, developing demonstrated that poor safety also hurts
capital investment strategies, setting up an hospitals’ bottom line.
innovation processes, de-bottlenecking
operations, devising regulation strategies – This analysis has been very powerful in some
you name it! of the work I’ve done supporting private and
public hospitals at McKinsey, as it has
The thing that these projects have in common underpinned business cases for investing in
is the client’s senior management team is safer hospital care and provided clarity on
looking for expert problem solving support. how to make these improvements happen.
Our teams are mostly made up of ‘generalists’
with backgrounds in diverse disciplines.
Economics is a great foundation as it
encourages curiosity and rewards clear,
structured thinking.Gabriela D’Souza
Senior Economist
Committee for Economic
Development of Australia
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Senior Economist, Committee for Economic I have a lot of autonomy in my role. And have
Development of Australia the privilege of being able to contribute to the
• Board Member, International Education agenda and direction of research at my work
Association of Australia place.
• Adjunct researcher, Monash University
Econometrics and Business Statistics faculty
Studying economics has allowed me to:
Make sense of the world. I firmly believe that
Selected previous roles: studying Economics allows you to see the
• Data Science Consultant, Own business world in a way you ordinarily wouldn’t, and it
Consulted to ed-tech company on suits my thinking style.
modelling student outcomes
• Associate, Grattan Institute Economics as a toolkit is extremely versatile
Worked on superannuation reform and too.
higher education policy
• Research Officer, NATSEM
Tax and transfer modelling and measuring A memorable moment in my career was:
inequality I’ve been very fortunate, so there are many,
but getting my first publication was a big
highlight and seeing my name on a paper. It
Education was a really good feeling.
• Masters of Economics, Monash University
• Bachelor of Applied Economics, University
of Canberra
Day-to-day my current role includes:
• Data analysis,
• Making fun charts
• Drafting reports
• Engaging with media and journalists
• Presenting research at conferences.Stephen Duckett
Director, Health Program
Grattan Institute
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Director, Health Program, Grattan Institute I have had roles as a manager in the
bureaucracy - in the thick of it - and in the
Selected previous roles: health system. I have also worked as an
• Academic: Professor of health policy at academic, researching aspects of health policy.
La Trobe University
• Bureaucratic: Senior roles in Studying economics has allowed me to:
Commonwealth, Victorian, and Queensland Advocate for health system improvement
health departments combining a focus on efficiency, with a
commitment to equity and quality.
Education
• BEc (ANU) A memorable moment in my career was:
• PhD (UNSW) Developing creative policy solutions to
improve efficiency - introduction of activity
Day-to-day my current role includes: based funding in Victoria was one highlight -
Overseeing a very small team (2 staff) working and quality - changing the way we measured
on health policy issues: we identify key issues quality of hospital services in Queensland was
where changes are necessary, research ways another. I also address problems of equity -
of defining the problem, and what solutions improving access for people to hospital
might work. outpatient services, and leading the expansion
of community health services in Victoria.
We write reports proposing reform. We
consult widely with stakeholders as part of I've had the opportunity of working with many
developing the report and building support. wonderful people, in really fun environments,
We also liaise with journalists to help the over my career. Economics is not a dry old
public understand contemporary issues, and subject but is something which can really help
get our message out to the wider community. to improve public welfare.
At the moment we are developing reports on Also during my career I have had times when I
aged care reform and climate change, and was in - quite influential - and times when I
before that we published reports on the was out. During the latter times, I was
health response to COVID-19. sustained by a network of friends/colleagues.
Build yours!Luci Ellis
Assistant Governor (Economic)
Reserve Bank of Australia
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
I am responsible for the Reserve Bank of The emphasis of my role in financial stability
Australia’s (RBA) Economic Analysis and was on risk. Rather than focusing on what is
Economic Research departments, and serve happening now and what is likely to happen
as the chief economic advisor to the Governor next, financial stability is all about working out
and the Board. what could go wrong, and why. In my current
role, I am responsible for briefing the Board
I am also the executive sponsor of the Bank's and advising the Board and Governor on
LGBTI+ allies employee resource group. I have economic developments and monetary policy.
been a member of the Australian Statistics We draw on our analysis and research, as well
Advisory Council since November 2015. as insights from our liaison teams around the
country and in Beijing.
Selected previous roles:
• Head of Financial Stability Department, RBA Studying economics has allowed me to:
• Bank for International Settlements Understand how individual human behaviour
• Deputy Head of Economic Analysis adds up to complex phenomena; leverage
Department, RBA that understanding to help serve the public,
by interpreting current developments and
Education providing policy advice.
• University of New South Wales (PhD 2003)
• Australian National University (MEc 1995) Two memorable moments in my career have
• University of Melbourne (BComm Hons been:
1990) Our response as a central bank to two very
different crises. As head of Financial Stability
Day-to-day my current role includes: Department in the latter months of 2008, I
Much of my job – and the job of my worked on the response to the Global
colleagues – as an economist, is interpreting Financial Crisis. This year, as the Bank’s chief
recent data and using that to forecast the economist, I have had the privilege of being
future of the Australian economy and deeply involved in the public policy response
contribute to policy decisions. So, the team to the COVID-19 pandemic.
and I have the chance to make a positive
difference to the lives of Australians. For
example, in my current role as the chief
economist advising the RBA Board, I make
recommendations on how it should set
Australia’s monetary policy.Felicity Emmett
Senior Economist
ANZ Bank
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Senior Economist, ANZ My previous economist roles were with
• CEDA NSW/ACT Advisory Committee international banks where the focus was
• Australian Business Economists Committee primarily on very large institutional clients. At
a commercial bank like ANZ there is a much
broader client base which includes corporates,
Selected previous roles: from the very large to the very small. I find
• Senior Economist, Royal Bank of Scotland this more interesting – talking to corporates
• Senior Economist, ABN AMRO about their own businesses adds a different
• Economist, BZW Australia dimension to the macro data and adds to my
understanding of the economy and how it is
evolving.
Education
• Bachelor of Economics, Macquarie
University Studying economics has allowed me to:
Work in a research environment, but also be a
part of a fast-paced financial markets team. In
Day-to-day my current role includes: macro-economics, things are always changing
In my role at ANZ I’m responsible for analysis and there’s always something new to keep my
and forecasting of key Australian interest.
macroeconomic indicators, as well as thematic
research on the Australian economy.
A memorable moment in my career was:
I also publish specialist analysis on topical Working through both the GFC and the
issues, including the policy outlook and COVID-19 crisis. While both crises were quite
housing for a range of internal and external different, they were fast-evolving and there
clients and provide regular media was a substantial amount of pressure to
commentary on these and other key understand new developments (whether that
economic issues. be from the intrinsic issue or from the policy
response) and work out what that meant for
the economic outlook.Jo Evans
Deputy Secretary
Department of Industry, Science,
Energy and Resources
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Deputy Secretary, Department of Industry My current role has a broader policy span
Science Energy and Resources than my earlier concentration on climate
• ARENA Board Member change matters.
Selected previous roles: Studying economics has allowed me to:
• Deputy Secretary, Department of Economics has allowed me to bring a
Environment and Energy structured thinking approach to problem
• Deputy Secretary, Department of solving and to think through the systems
Agriculture effects of policy choices. It also gave me a
capacity to work with analysis and numbers,
Education which has complemented my ability to write
• BA(Asian Studies) / B Ec Hons (ANU) clearly.
• Masters of Environmental Science
(Melbourne) A memorable moment in my career was:
• Masters of Public Policy (Princeton) Being asked to take over the role of Chief
Financial Officer in the Department of
Day-to-day my current role includes: Agriculture. I had never considered taking on
Policy and program development. such a role but had the support of my peers
Implementation of government decisions. and my Secretary to try something
Problem solving for best approaches to completely different. It gave me the
implementation and issues management. opportunity to run a large Division with a
Leadership of the Department including range of service delivery and relatively
participation in People, Finance and Strategy commercial functions, and it drove home the
Committees and discussions. lesson that sometimes your role is to lead, not
to be the one with the technical knowledge.
My areas of responsibility cover climate
change, development of Northern Australia,
radioactive waste management, and
remediation of uranium mining and nuclear
test sites in Australia. I am also responsible for
the National Measurement Institute, which is a
specialised part of the department.
I am responsible for policy oversight of the
Clean Energy Regulator, the Clean Energy
Finance Corporation, ARENA, the Climate
Change Authority and the Northern Australia
Infrastructure Facility.Gigi Foster
Professor
University of New South Wales
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Professor with the School of Economics at In previous roles, I would often take on less
the University of New South Wales leadership in team-based research and
administration tasks. I also now receive more
Selected previous roles: opportunities to communicate about
• Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer at the economics outside academia, and spend
University of South Australia more time doing this. My current position also
• Research Analyst at William M Mercer, a enables me to give back in more impactful
human resource consultancy, in New York ways, such as through academic review roles
City and via the Consortium for Inclusive
Economics Education (www.ciee.unsw.edu.au).
Education
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics Studying economics has allowed me to:
from University of Maryland College Park Build the mental toolbox required to think and
• Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Ethics, Politics, and teach about human behaviour in a way that is
Economics from Yale University useful for the world, and consistent with the
• Diploma from Phillips Exeter Academy natural orientation of my heart, which is
always on the lookout for how to get the best
Day-to-day my current role includes: outcome for everyone in our world of scarcity.
• Conducting research in diverse fields
including education, social influence, A memorable moment in my career was:
corruption, lab experiments, time use, Being told I would be receiving the Economic
behavioural economics and Australian Society of Australia’s 2019 Best Young
policy. Economist award, at the lunchtime break of
• Overseeing the education portfolio of the the conference at whose dinner that night I
UNSW School of Economics, as the would need to give an acceptance speech. I
School’s Director of Education. had no idea I was even in the running, and so
• Developing, coordinating and teaching I had nothing prepared! I was the first
undergraduate and postgraduate recipient to benefit from the ESA’s new rule to
economics courses. allow those older than 40 to qualify as
• Supervising Honours and PhD students. “young” if they had experienced career breaks
• Communicating about economics with the for caring responsibilities – which in my case
public – e.g., via panels, public talks, expert applied mainly to my care for my mother.
testimony, radio, TV, and print media,
including (when in season) co-hosting The
Economists, a national economics talk-radio
program and podcast series with Peter
Martin AM on ABC Radio National.Catherine de Fontenay
Commissioner
Productivity Commission
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Commissioner, Productivity Commission My roles involved teaching (undergraduate
and postgraduate).
Selected previous roles: My research was self-initiated, and more
• Associate Professor, Melbourne Business oriented towards theoretical work.
School, University of Melbourne (to 2019)
• Visiting Faculty, Stern School of Business,
NYU (2006)
• Lecturer, UNSW, 1998 to 2001 Studying economics has allowed me to:
Have the tools to look at a set of facts, and
put them together in a model.
Education
• PhD, Stanford University, 1998 Being able to think about patterns using
• B.A., Economics and Arts, McGill University existing models.
Understand the world better!
Day-to-day my current role includes:
Providing feedback and guidance to the staff
on the PC’s inquiries and research projects. A memorable moment in my career was:
Being ‘quicknapped’ in El Salvador in 1993,
Some input into modelling and empirical when I spent a summer as an intern at USAID.
work. El Salvador had recently signed a peace treaty
between the government and various militia
Presentations to government, stakeholders groups, and the resulting unemployment
and media. among militia members led to a rapid rise in
crime. I found myself encouraging my
kidnappers to consider the newly available
retraining programs, as a safer career
alternative! And I was inspired to do research
on the economics of crime.Renée Fry-McKibbin
Professor of Economics
Australian National University
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Professor of Economics, ANU My previous roles were intensively
• Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences administrative, especially when Associate
Dean. I was a member of the Executive that
Selected previous roles: advised the Dean, sat on the University
• Associate Dean (Research) - focus on research committee, ran my own research
research policy and facilitating excellence in committee and was involved in developing
research research policy,
• Australian Research Council – Excellence in
Research Australia Committee – assess Studying economics has allowed me to:
university submission on their research Travel to conferences to meet other
excellence economists who are working on similar issues
• Director, Centre for Applied and to gain an understanding of the
Macroeconomic Analysis economies of other countries, which gives a
• Advisor – at various Treasuries and central better understanding of the Australian
banks. economy and our place in the world. The best
ideas come through informal discussions with
Education people from different backgrounds and
• Ph.D. Economics perspectives.
• B.Ec.(hons)
A memorable moment in my career was:
Day-to-day my current role includes: Early in my career I felt nervous when
Researching the transmission of international presenting my work at conferences. During
economic and financial market shocks across one large conference I was asked to make
countries. Supervising PhD and Masters sure the keynote speaker was in the right
students in their research projects. Teaching. place at the right time. I saw that this world
Contributing to public discussion on famous speaker was incredibly nervous. I
economics issues. realised that being nervous is a good thing. It
means that you care. Know your presentation
and know you work inside out and the rest will
fall into place.Alex Heath
Head of International Department
Reserve Bank of Australia
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Head of International Department, RBA The focus was on forecasting the domestic
• Executive Sponsor of the Gender Equity economy as an input into monetary policy
Employee Reference Group (ERG), RBA decisions.
• Member of the APRA Climate Vulnerability
Assessment Steering Committee The key data were more likely to be monthly
or quarterly, so the challenge of working out
Selected previous roles: what was important and in what way was
Head of Economic Analysis Department (EA) different.
EA advises the Board on current and expected
developments in the Australian economy. Studying economics has allowed me to:
• contribute to important public policy issues
Head of Economic Research Department (ER)
ER does longer-term policy-relevant analysis of • do a job where I learn something new
the Australian economy and financial markets. every day
Education • work on a wide range of issues from labour
• BEc (Hons), University of Sydney market policy to macroeconomic modelling
• MSc (Economics), London School of to the structure of the foreign exchange
Economics market
• PhD, London School of Economics
• live overseas (while on secondment to the
Day-to-day my current role includes: Bank for International Settlements in Basel,
Monitoring developments in international Switzerland) and work with international
financial markets to understand what they colleagues.
mean for international economic outlook and
financial stability risks. A memorable moment in my career was:
When I had the privilege of experiencing the
Understanding what we can learn from GFC from the front-line, initially at the BIS and
international experience about domestic then at the RBA, and being a part of the
policy decisions and the implementation of policy response.
policy.
Following the debates and issues being
discussed by international groups such as the
G20.Nicki Hutley
Economist
Deloitte Access Economics
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Partner, Deloitte Access Economics I was much more focussed on macro-
• Councillor, Climate Council economic forecasting and analysis in the past
• Council member, Economics Society of – but I have never lost this love.
Australia (NSW)
• Board member, 1 Million Women
Studying economics has allowed me to:
Selected previous roles: Play a meaningful role in developing public
• Director and Chief Economist at Urbis, policy.
leading urban economics and public policy
work Work across a range of really interesting and
• Investment analyst, Access Capital Advisers, stimulating issues.
advising on superannuation fund
investments Continue to learn and develop every day.
• Financial markets economist at Rothschild
Asset Management, Deutschebank, Lloyds
Bank, Bankers Trust
A memorable moment in my career was:
Having a meeting with Prof. Joseph Stiglitz to
Education discuss our research into modern slavery and
• BA Hons (Economics) listening to his wisdom.
Day-to-day my current role includes:
Leading economic research and analysis on a
wide range of policy topics.
Developing thought leadership on issues of
interest to me (social justice and climate
change are front and centre).
Acting as a spokesperson for Deloitte Access
Economics in the media and at client events
and conferences, especially on macro-
economic issues.Jo Masters
Chief Economist Oceania
EY
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Chief Economist Oceania, EY My current role is very different to previous in
• Member of the Committee for Economic two key ways. Firstly as a Chief Economist for
Development of Australia (CEDA) 2021 EY, I’m driving conversations on behalf of the
Council on Economic Policy firm and taking responsibility for our
• Executive Member of the Australian economic views. I’m also much more involved
Business Economists in the national economic debate and have
• Advisory Board Member for the Financy opportunities to influence policy settings.
Women’s Index Secondly, this role is the first time I have
worked outside of banking, which means my
Selected previous roles: focus is much broader in terms of clients and
• Senior Economist, ANZ looking at structural shifts in the economy.
• Currency Strategist and Sales, Macquarie
Bank Studying economics has allowed me to:
• Senior Economist, Macquarie Bank Understand and drive national-level
• Summer Intern, GT Funds Management discussions on the forces that shape the
economy. It’s also given me a platform to
Education encourage female financial literacy and inspire
• Masters of Economics, The University of more young Australians into the fascinating
Sydney world of economics.
• Bachelor of Commerce (Economics), The
University of Auckland A memorable moment in my career was:
It would have to be 2020 – what a year to be
Day-to-day my current role includes: an economist! When the pandemic began to
As the Chief Economist Oceania at EY, my role hit Australia hard in late March/early April, the
is to bring the economy into business economy was shifting so rapidly as policy
conversations for EY’s people and our clients. announcements were rolled out in response
Some of my day-to-day activities include to the health crisis. While these were
media interviews, client presentations, panel immensely challenging times, I’m proud to
discussions and internal presentations to EY have been able to contribute to policy
people. I keep a close eye with what is decisions, provide insights to EY’s clients, and
happening in the world, from ABS data have had the opportunity to use the media as
releases to rate cut decisions and major a platform to speak to all Australians.
government announcements, to ensure I’m
always up-to-date with what is impacting the
economy.Dr Kar Mei Tang
Chief Circular Economist
NSW Circular
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Chief Circular Economist, NSW Circular This is an exciting area to be in at the moment
• NSW Women in Economics Network with Australia now beginning to pivot in its
Secretary approach to climate change and
• Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network environmental policy.
Human Research Ethics Committee
member
Selected previous roles: Studying economics has allowed me to:
• Executive Director, Circular Economy, NSW Apply these skills for public good! Having an
Department of Planning, Industry & economics background has been useful if not
Environment critical from my experience, working in
• Director, Economy Policy, NSW Department different areas ranging from policy advocacy
of Premier & Cabinet to the public sector and now the circular
• Head of Policy and Research, Australian economy.
Private Equity & Venture Capital
Association (now Australian Investment
Council) A memorable moment in my career was:
Being in Manila for an intergovernmental
Education meeting in the early 2000s when a military
• PhD Economics (Uni Syd) coup was underway! We were quarantined at
• M Applied Statistics (ANU) the hotel for the duration of our trip for
• B Commerce (Hons) (Uni Melb) obvious security reasons.
Day-to-day my current role includes:
Providing economic advice and thought
leadership on transitioning NSW towards a
circular economy. This could involve reviewing
business cases and research reports, analysing
economic and environmental data, speaking
at conferences, and meeting with the team
and stakeholders.Lucy Moon
Head of Regulation
Energy Networks Australia
Current role: Studying economics has allowed me to:
• Head of Regulation – Energy Networks I decided to study economics at university as I
Australia (ENA) had a great high school economics teacher
that made it interesting, however I didn’t
Selected previous roles: initially have a clear idea of how I wanted to
• Senior Manager Network Regulation & translate that into a career. I started in
Pricing – Power and Water Corporation: electricity network regulation working for the
Reporting direct to the EGM, I led the now-CEO of Power and Water Corporation
regulation and pricing teams for Power and who was a significant mentor to me.
Water Corporation’s regulated electricity
networks. I have been afforded lots of interesting
opportunities stemming not only from my
Education work ethic but also due to my choice to begin
• Masters of Economics – University of my career in a regional area (the Northern
Sydney Territory). I would strongly encourage
• Bachelor of Economics – Australian graduates to consider opportunities outside
National University of the major cities as a way to gain not only
diverse experiences but also invaluable
Day-to-day my current role includes: exposure to senior executives.
In my role at ENA I develop, negotiate and
communicate economic regulatory policy A memorable moment in my career was:
positions throughout the ENA membership Working within a great team at Power and
and with key external stakeholders including Water Corporation that delivered the
regulatory bodies and consumer groups to company’s first regulatory proposal to the
support innovative, efficient network services Australian Energy Regulator under the
for Australian communities. For example, this National Electricity Rules.
can include policy that better facilitates the
efficient integration of solar. It was interesting and very challenging – and
involved lots of juggling between the
This is different to previous roles, where: demands of a young family and the tight
My role at ENA involves significant amounts of deadlines that you are continually up against
industry engagement, and I am focused on through the regulatory process.
policy issues on a national scale.
Whereas my prior roles had more of an
organisational focus where I was responsible
for delivering the company’s regulatory
requirements and providing advice to the
Executive and Board on regulatory strategy
and compliance.Mala Raghavan
Academic
University of Tasmania
Current role This is different to previous roles, where:
• Senior Lecturer in Macroeconomics I have more than 25 years in academia, at
• Head of Discipline (Economics & Finance) various universities across Australia and
• Board Member of the Australasian Southeast Asia. In the earlier days, my job
Macroeconomic Society description was more teaching focussed.
• Committee Member, ESA Tasmania Currently, I am more involved in research work,
• Research Associate of CAMA focussing on macroeconomic policies and
• The Conversation, Forecasting Panel of international economics. Bringing this research
Economists; Jane Franklin College (Academic experience into the classroom has allowed my
Fellow) students to understand how economic theory
and data can be combined to explain the effects
Selected previous roles of events in the real world.
• National Committee Member and Tasmanian
Representative of Women in Economics Studying economics has allowed me to:
Network (WEN) Australia (2017 to 2020). Work with central bankers on macroeconomic
• Scientific Committee Member, AGEW (2018 policy-related topics and to engage with the
to 2020). World Bank, Treasury and the Department of
• Committee Member of University of State Growth on international trade issues.
Tasmania’s Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Through research, I crossed paths with many
Team (2017 to 2019) economists who are working on various themes
• Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Visiting such as climate change, gender, resources and
Research Fellow (2015 to 2017). social issues, emphasising the role of economic
knowledge in decision making across multi-
Education disciplines.
• Ph.D. in Econometrics, Monash University
• M App Econometrics, Monash University A memorable moment in my career was:
• M Economics, University of Malaya When my expertise in modelling monetary
policy for small emerging open economies was
Day-to-day my current role includes: recognised by BNM and I was invited to be the
My role involves teaching, research, central bank’s first Visiting Research Fellow (VRF)
administrative responsibilities and community under the bank’s VRF Scholar Programme in
engagements. Economics is an evolving and 2015. This engagement has opened the
exciting area of study, and I can employ plenty opportunity to expand my network with the
of current and relevant events such as COVID Southeast Asian Central Banks, European
pandemic, financial crisis, oil price shocks, policy Central Bank and the World Bank.
responses, etc in my teaching and research.Leonora Risse
Lecturer in Economics
RMIT University
Current role: This is different to previous roles, where:
• Lecturer in Economics, RMIT University Working in academia provides a greater
• Research Fellow, Women and Public Policy degree of individual autonomy to choose the
Program, Harvard University research topics that you focus on and the
• National Chair, Women in Economics opportunity to participate more freely in
Network public discussion. However, working for
government means you are a lot closer to the
Selected previous roles: policy action and can have more input
• Senior Research Economist, Productivity towards the policymaking process.
Commission, Australian Government,
involved conducting analysis and consulting Both sectors – academia and public sector –
with stakeholders to present policy are greatly rewarding. The skills, knowledge,
recommendations to Australian connections that you gain in one sector will
Government across a range of economic be valuable across all sectors.
issues
Studying economics has allowed me to:
Education Understand what causes fundamental
• PhD Economics (UQ) problems in society, such as inequalities, and
• B Economics (Hons I) (UQ) to be part of the community of researchers
• B Arts (Journalism and English) (UQ) and policymakers who are contributing
towards solutions. This sounds clichéd, but
Day-to-day my current role includes: economics truly does equip you with tools to
As a lecturer, my role involves: teaching help to make the world a better, and fairer,
students; administrating courses; conducting place.
research; participating in conferences and
seminars where we exchange our latest A memorable moment in my career was:
research with the wider research community; Visiting outback schools, as part of my work
and engaging with the wider public and on the Schools Workforce Inquiry at the
media as a vehicle for our research to have Productivity Commission – it was moving and
real world impact. inspiring to the see first-hand the challenges
these teachers experience and their
dedication to their students.
And the opportunity to spend time as a
Research Fellow at Harvard University was
amazing!You can also read
