Alumni | Sir Roland Wilson Foundation

SRW Scholarship Graduated 2020

Dr

Owen Freestone

The Treasury

Australian National University

PhD title: Economic inequality over the life cycle in Australia.

Owen has worked in the APS since 2004. Since 2010, he has managed various teams within the Macroeconomic Group at Treasury, responsible for providing advice on the Australian and Chinese economies.

Owen’s PhD research explores the life-cycle dimension of income and consumption among Australian households, and how this is shaped by government policy. He looked to answer questions, such as the relative importance of individual differences versus other factors in explaining wage inequality in Australia, and the role that the tax-transfer system plays in cushioning workers from unexpected income changes. Owen has also published a number of research publications on economic topics like Australian household saving behaviour and structural change in the Chinese economy.

Supervisor:

Professor Robert Breunig

Articles and Publications

Freestone O, Daudry A, Obeyesekere A and Sedgwick M (2011) ‘The Rise in Household Saving and its Implications for the Australian Economy’. Economic Round-up, 2011, 2, The Treasury, Canberra.
Zhang D and Freestone, O (2013), ‘China’s unfinished state-owned enterprise reforms’. Economic Round-up, 2013, 2, The Treasury, Canberra.
Freestone O (2018) ‘The Drivers of Life-Cycle Wage Inequality in Australia’. Economic Record, 94( 307):424-444.
Freestone O (2020), Economic inequality over the life cycle in Australia [PhD Thesis], The Australian National University, Canberra.

SRW Scholarship Graduated

Dr

Cathy Fussell

Australian Public Service Commission

Australian National University

PhD title: Realising the collective value of data by governing with rather than over

Cathy joined the Australian Public Service in 2001. She has since had a broad range of policy and program roles within the health portfolio. Cathy’s recent work has focused on big data strategy and capability. She co-led the establishment of the Social Health and Welfare Analytic Unit and led Health’s cross-portfolio engagement on big data analytics projects through the Data Integration Partnership for Australia.

Cathy’s doctoral research explores how we can realise the collective value of data. Working at the intersection of theories of value and power, and public service practice, she unpacks what collective value looks like and how it can be systematically created. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s assemblage theory, Cathy interrogates how we think and talk about data, develops a collective theory of value and power, and applies that theory to practice. Cathy hopes this work will support the public sector policy and data communities to design, create, and facilitate supported data assemblages that create collective value.

For more information about Cathy’s research findings see: https://crawford.anu.edu.au/people/phd/cathy-fussell

Supervisor:

Professor Helen Sullivan

Articles and Publications

Fussell, C 2022, ‘Four Data Discourses and Assemblage Forms: A Methodological Framework’, Preprint. Available at: osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/jvcqw.

Fussell, C 2023, 'Why we struggle to realise the value of data: SocArXiv. Preprint. Available at https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/u8zcx

Fussell, C 2023 'Three propositions for realising collective value'. SocArXiv. Preprint. Available at: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/3pheu

Fussell, C 2023, 'Understanding value through Deleuze and Guattari’s metaphysics and ethics'. SocArXiv. Preprint. Available at: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/kt6f8

Fussell, C 2023, 'Searching for a positive theory of power'. SocArXiv. Preprint. Available at: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/v8qh9

Fussell, C (Forthcoming) 'What a power with looks like and why we should choose it'. SocArXiv. Preprint.

Fussell C (2024) Realising the collective value of data by governing with rather than over [PhD Thesis], The Australian National University, Canberra.