Contributors

Genevieve Bell

Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell AO FTSE FAHA is a renowned anthropologist, technologist, and futurist. Genevieve is currently the Director of the School of Cybernetics and the 3A Institute (3Ai) at the Australian National University and also remains a Vice President and Senior Fellow at Intel Corporation. She is also a non-executive director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

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Peter Doherty

Laureate Professor Peter Doherty AC shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Rolf Zinkernagel for their discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells. He was Australian of the Year in 1997. Professor Doherty is now patron of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and the Michael F Tamer Chair of Biomedical Research at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

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Jenny Gordon

Dr Jenny Gordon is an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Social Research and Methods, at the Australian National University and a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute. Jenny was the Chief Economist at DFAT from 2019 to 2021, establishing the Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) to bring together trade and investment economics with development economics. Jenny joined DFAT from Nous Group where she helped build their economic analysis service offer. Prior to this she spent 10 years at the Productivity Commission as the Principal Advisor Research. Jenny has a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and started her professional career at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

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Ian Hickie

Professor Ian Hickie AM is a Professor of Psychiatry and the Co-Director of Health and Policy at the University of Sydney’s, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney. He has led major public health and health services developments in Australia, particularly focusing on early intervention for young people with depression, suicidal thoughts and behaviours and complex mood disorders. He is active in the development through codesign, implementation and continuous evaluation of new health information and personal monitoring technologies to drive highly-personaliszed and measurement-based care.

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Kar Mei Tang

Dr Kar Mei Tang is Chief Circular Economist with NSW Circular. Her work focuses on how environmental and economic policy can intersect to bring about better local and global outcomes. Her experience spans many years of senior executive and governance roles in these fields in the public and private sectors, in Australia and internationally.

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Pat Turner

Ms Pat Turner AM is an Aboriginal woman from Central Australia, the daughter of an Arrernte man and a Gurdanji woman. She is the lead convener of the Coalition of Peaks and the chief executive officer of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation.

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Veena Sahajwalla

Professor Veena Sahajwalla is an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer, and inventor revolutionising recycling science. She is the Director of the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, and the inventor of polymer injection technology, known as Green SteelTM, an eco-friendly process for using recycled tyres and other wastes in steel production. In 2018, Veena launched the world's first of her MICROfactories® and she is the Director of the ARC Microrecycling Research Hub, as well as Leader of the new national Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub. Veena was also named the 2022 NSW Australian of the Year.

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Steven Hamilton

Steven Hamilton is Assistant Professor of Economics at George Washington University and Visiting Fellow at the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the ANU. He worked on the Garnaut Climate Change Review update in 2010 to 2011 and recently developed climate policy proposals as Chief Economist at Blueprint Institute.

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Alicia Mollaun

Dr Alicia Mollaun is the Senior Manager for Economic Policy at Equity Economics and Development Partners, a firm committed developing solutions to complex challenges domestically and internationally through more inclusive growth. Alicia has previously worked at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, MP. Alicia has a PhD in Public Policy from the Crawford School at the Australian National University.

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Anna Boucher

Anna Boucher is Associate Professor in Public Policy and Comparative Politics at the University of Sydney and a Research Stream Lead at the James Martin Institute for Public Policy. Her book Patterns of Exploitation: Understanding Migrant Worker Rights in Advanced Democracies will be published by Oxford University Press. She has advised the Australian and UK governments, as well as international agencies, on the workplace rights of migrant workers, skilled immigration policy and immigration statistics.

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Zac Gross

Dr Zac Gross is a lecturer in economics at Monash University and a former economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

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Vafa Ghazavi

Dr Vafa Ghazavi is the Executive Director for Research and Policy at the James Martin Institute for Public Policy. He is a public policy strategist and political philosopher. Vafa previously worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra, and taught political theory at the University of Oxford. In addition to his role at JMI, Vafa is currently a Carr Center Fellow at Harvard University, where his research focuses on issues at the intersection of finance and ethics.

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Christopher Day

Christopher Day is a PhD student in economic and industrial strategy at the University of Sydney. Prior to this, Christopher worked in both public and private sector roles in London and Washington D.C where his work encompassed the fields of spatial economics, innovation policy and insurance. Christopher holds a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge and graduated with First Class Honours and the University Medal from the University of Technology Sydney.

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Hugh Piper

Hugh Piper is Deputy Editor of The Policymaker.

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Roy Green

Roy Green is Emeritus Professor and Special Innovation Advisor at the University of Technology Sydney, where he was Dean of the UTS Business School. Currently, he is Chair of the Port of Newcastle and the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Hub, and a member of the NSW Modern Manufacturing Taskforce, Australian Design Council and the Research Advisory Committee of the Centre for Policy Development. This article is based on an InnovationAus presentation in Canberra.

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Amira Skeggs

Amira Skeggs is a researcher at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre and the founder of Kindred, a not-for-profit social enterprise creating digital mental health resources for young people. She has worked across several mental health organisations and currently sits on the Raise Foundation’s Youth Advisory Council, where her work is focused on elevating young people’s voices to create more inclusive mental health initiatives. Amira graduated with first class honours and the university medal in Psychology from the University of Sydney.

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Libby Hackett

Libby Hackett is the inaugural CEO of the James Martin Institute for Public Policy. Libby is an award-winning public policy expert and brings over 20 years’ experience working at the highest level of government and universities. She has held senior advisory and leadership roles in government, parliament, peak bodies, think tanks and private sector consultancy in Australia and the UK. Libby was selected to participate in the Prime Minister’s leadership training programme for outstanding public servants in 2010. She was named one of the UK’s "Education Reformers of the Year" by the Education Foundation for work promoting social mobility and access to higher education. She served as a Director on the UK Higher Education Commission and as an Advisor to the Browne Review of Higher Education Fees and Funding. Libby holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and a Master of Arts from the University of Oxford and is a visiting fellow in global higher education policy at Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University (ANU).

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Travers McLeod

Travers McLeod is the Executive Director of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence, a social justice organisation working to prevent and alleviate poverty across Australia.

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Nelson Ma

Nelson Ma is a senior lecturer and researcher in financial accounting at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). His research focuses on understanding how the drivers of financial performance impact the quality of financial statements prepared by publicly listed companies. Nelson has recently published a series of projects in aged care, analysing quality of care and the financial outcomes of different business and workforce models.

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Jehonathan Ben

Jehonathan Ben is a Postdoctoral Associate Research Fellow at Deakin University. His research focuses on racism and anti-racism, intercultural relations, migration and mobilities.

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Amanda Tattersall

Amanda Tattersall is an Associate Professor with the Sydney Policy Lab and the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney. She co-founded GetUp.org.au, founded the Sydney Alliance, and hosts the ChangeMakers Podcast, that tells stories about people trying to make the world a better place. She is the instigator and academic lead of the Real Deal project.

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Rachael Lewis

Dr Rachael Lewis is a Lecturer at the UNSW Business School and founding member of the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (UARC). She conducts research into the role of management accounting in shaping managerial cognition and the development of expertise. Her PhD research examined the use of performance measurement and other management systems in an aged care setting.

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Peter Shergold

Professor Peter Shergold AC, the Chancellor of Western Sydney University, is Chair of the James Martin Institute for Public Policy. He headed the panel which undertook the independent review of Australia's response to global pandemic.

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Duncan Ivison

Duncan Ivison is Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He was Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) from 2015-2022 and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 2010-15.

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Pauline McGuirk

Pauline McGuirk is Director of the Australian Centre for Culture, Environment, Society and Space, University of Wollongong. Her work revolves, broadly, around critical studies of urban governance, its changing geographies, material practices and politics, and the differential implications for urban places, communities, subjectivities and power.

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Jennifer Burn

Professor Jennifer Burn is a lawyer and director of Anti-Slavery Australia at UTS, the nation’s only specialist legal practice, research and policy centre committed to the abolition of slavery in this country.

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Måns Carlsson

Måns Carlsson OAM has been Head of ESG at Ausbil since 2015. In 2022, Måns was recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the sustainable investment sector, including special mention of his work on modern slavery.

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Matt Tyler

Matt Tyler is the Executive Director of The Men’s Project at Jesuit Social Services working with a team committed to providing leadership on the reduction of violence and other harmful behaviours prevalent among men and boys. Prior to joining Jesuit Social Services, he worked as a Fellow for Harvard’s Government Performance Lab focused on child protection and he has also previously worked on reforms to family violence services and child protection in Australia. He is trained as an economist with a particular focus on statistics, holding a Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School and Honours in Economics from Monash University.

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Rys Farthing

Dr Rys Farthing is Director at Reset Australia and Associate Investigator at the Center for the Digital Child. Reset Australia is an independent think tank, and the Australian affiliate of the global Reset initiative. We accept no funding from tech, and are funded by trusts and foundations, including Reset Global, Luminate and the Internet Society Foundation.

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James Cockayne

Dr James Cockayne is the inaugural NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner. He previously founded Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking, chaired the US Council on Foreign Relations study group on trafficking in persons, and set up the UN’s anti-slavery knowledge platform, Delta 8.7.

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Rachel Visontay

Rachel Visontay is an NHMRC-funded PhD candidate at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney. Her research explores relationships between alcohol and long-term health outcomes, with a focus on identifying causal effects.

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Maree Teesson

Professor Maree Teesson AC FAHMS, FASSA is an NHMRC Leadership Fellow, Director of the Matilda Centre & Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Illness and Substance Use (PREMISE) at the University of Sydney. Prof Teesson is a former National Mental Health Commissioner (2018-2021), former member of NHMRC Council (2018-2021), an Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Fellow and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.

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Louise Mewton

Associate Professor Louise Mewton is a University of New South Wales Scientia Fellow and public health researcher with a focus on the epidemiology, assessment, prevention, and treatment of alcohol use and related disorders across the lifespan. She currently leads the Dementia Risk Factors Group at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, University of New South Wales.

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Claire Morse

Claire Morse is currently the project officer at Project Paradigm and a sessional tutor at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She began her career as a Queensland Police Officer, with a strong focus on working with children, families and young people, domestic and family violence, and community policing. Claire transitioned across from policing to social work, working across several fields of practice with a special focus on working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and directly with clients, as well as in advocacy, policy and research.

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Alex Fischer

Dr Alex Fischer is Head of Research at the Paul Ramsay Foundation.

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Nick Davis

Nick Davis is Partnerships Officer at the Paul Ramsay Foundation.

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Krystal Lockwood

Dr Krystal Lockwood is a Gumbaynggirr and Dunghutti woman from Armidale, New South Wales. She is a Lecturer in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University.

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Heron Loban

Dr Heron Loban is a Torres Strait Islander woman with family connections to Mabuyag and Boigu. She has worked as an academic and lawyer and is currently the managing director of Mura Lagh, a First Nations consulting firm based in Brisbane.

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Nareen Young

Professor Nareen Young is Associate Dean (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement) at the University of Technology, Business School, Sydney. She also leads Jumbunna Indigenous Education and Research Institute’s Indigenous People and Work Research and Practice Hub. Nareen has led and managed two employment Diversity peak bodies, Diversity Council Australia and NSW Working Women’s Centre. She is influenced by both her Indigenous and culturally diverse heritages in this work. In 2022 was appointed to the NSW Premier’s Women’s Economic Participation Strategy’s Expert Advisory Panel.

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Joshua Gilbert

Joshua Gilbert is a Senior Researcher at UT Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research and is a member of the Indigenous People and Work Research and Practice Hub. Joshua is a Worimi man, farmer and academic, who shares the narration of Indigenous identity through agricultural truths in light of modern contexts. Each day, Josh's work seeks to connect the oldest living culture in the world with modernity, promoting the relevance of culture and Indigenous practices through today's lens. He does this through a practical lens, demonstrating this work through action while theoretically describing and recording it through various mediums. His work combines the old and the new, weaving them together to develop new insights and findings. Josh is undertaking a PhD at Charles Sturt University, focused on the concept of Indigenous modernity through agriculture. He was recently recognised internationally for his work, announced in the inaugural 50 Next: People Shaping the Future of Gastronomy cohort. Josh is on the board for KU Children's Services, Indigenous Business Australia, the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office and Reconciliation NSW.

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Hannah Gandy

Hannah Gandy is a lawyer and youth advocate working to improve the rights, rehabilitation prospects, and experiences of young persons through areas of policing, education and crime. She is employed as the Senior Liaison Officer for the Youth Referral and Independent Person Program which supports 10- to 17-year-olds in police custody. She is currently completing a Master of Laws Specialising in Social Justice at University College London, conducting research into the youth justice system and criminal procedure as a Victorian Government John Monash Scholar and Rotary Global Grant Scholar.

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Melissa Phillips

Dr Melissa Phillips is a lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. She has previously worked with asylum seekers and refugees in Australia and the UK, including in refugee settlement in NSW, and has also worked for key organisations such as the Refugee Council of Australia and Australian Red Cross.

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Anna Skarbek

Anna Skarbek is CEO of Climateworks Centre, working to develop the low carbon economy. A former banker and green policy adviser, Anna has led Climateworks since its creation in 2009, analysing emissions reduction opportunities, setting the ambition and unblocking barriers to implementation. Climateworks’ independent and non-partisan approach, co-founded by The Myer Foundation and Monash University, sees Anna working with multiple federal government departments as well as state governments and large corporations along with other stakeholders including investors, and business, environment and civil society leaders.

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Joshua Danahay

Joshua Danahay works on Climateworks projects to support government and industry in the transition to net zero emissions, including Renewable Energy Industrial Precincts, a collaborative solution enabling regional industries to reduce emissions while maintaining existing industries and attracting new ones. With experience in the electrotechnology industry, working with industry bodies and state government, Joshua is particularly interested in how net zero strategies can provide economic co-benefits to countries and communities.

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Jack Wilson

Dr Jack Wilson is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre, the University of Sydney. His research focuses on patterns of cannabis and other drug use, associated health outcomes, and implications for Australian cannabis policy. Jack has served as an expert consultant for the Western Australian Mental Health Commission’s drug prevention and information program, Drug Aware.

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Emily Stockings

Dr Emily Stockings is an NHMRC Fellow and Program Lead of ‘Smoking, Vaping and Mental Health’ at The Matilda Centre, the University of Sydney. She has worked with state and federal government agencies to develop clinical guidelines for the prescription of unapproved therapeutic products, including medicinal cannabis. She is expert consultant to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the Commonwealth Department of Health and the World Health Organization on tobacco control and emerging therapeutic substances.

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Jasmine Miller

Jasmine Miller is a proud Wirangu and Kokatha woman and World Vision Advocacy Campaigns Lead.

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Jack Isherwood

Dr Jack Isherwood is a Research Associate at the James Martin Institute for Public Policy, joining the Institute from Western Sydney University, The College in 2023. He has a PhD in Political and Social Thought from the Australian Catholic University on the topic of civil discourse and civil disobedience. He is currently completing a Master of Public Policy at Sydney University, and has research interests in climate adaption and mitigation, higher education policy, and the management of ‘black swan’ and ‘grey rhino’ scenarios. Alongside his work at JMI, Jack manages short online courses at Western Sydney University, The College.

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Kondo-François Aguey-Zinsou

Professor Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou is based at the University of Sydney where he develops hydrogen technologies. He is director of H2potential a hydrogen advisory firm. He co-leads several international hydrogen research consortiums, and advises countries on their pathways to hydrogen.

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Explore recent articles

  • 24 May 2023

    In the face of global warming and the limited capacity of renewables, Australia squandered its hydrogen opportunity. What can we do to catch up on the clean energy transition?

    Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou

  • 2 May 2023

    Policymakers can empower communities to contribute to greater energy efficiency and resilience by applying a “just transition” lens to new technologies such as community battery storage.

    Jack Isherwood

  • 28 April 2023

    Putting First Nations people in the driver’s seat of community development isn’t just the right thing to do – it delivers better outcomes too.

    Jasmine Miller and Colina Reuben