From Services Australia, Sharna is a proud Wuluwarra and Pitta Pitta woman, born and raised in Mount Isa Queensland. Sharna began her career in the public service as an APS2 and has since secured a wealth of knowledge through various jobs in service delivery; fraud and compliance; business improvement; human resources; parliamentary services, and; agency transformation.

Throughout her career Sharna has observed significant gaps between the intent of policy, to the delivery on the ground. Sharna aims to utilise the Master of Public Policy to empower her with the knowledge to close the divide between policy intent and program delivery.

Her goal is to support the public service to establish a best practice for seeking input from end users and communities in the development and implementation of policy and programs.

Natalie has held a variety of roles across the Commonwealth and NSW public service. She has a strong interest in health and leadership, and is passionate about the development and implementation of programs that provide the best outcomes for all people but particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

 Current public hospital funding arrangements consider the cost difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and adjust for this in the national funding model (the Indigenous adjustment). This adjustment is based on historical cost differences rather than consideration of actual need and thus is not likely to account for the disparity in outcomes. Natalie’s research will examine equity and methods for calculating Indigenous adjustments for resource allocation in hospital-based healthcare.

Since starting as a graduate at the Treasury in 2004, Jennifer’s work experience has involved rigorous analysis of Asian economies, a deep understanding of the Australian economy and an appreciation of the importance of effective international economic engagement. In 2021 Jenny moved to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Jennifer’s study examines the dynamics of the Chinese labour market and links to an analysis of China’s broader economic growth prospects.  A deeper understanding of the Chinese economy is of critical policy relevance, with China’s overall growth trajectory of particular importance to Australia’s prosperity.

Lisa has worked for the Australian Government for the past 15 years in a variety of roles, including service delivery, social work, community engagement, fraud prevention and human resource policy. She is currently a National Manager in the People Division at Services Australia. Lisa has been recognised by her agency for her work helping them better communicate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers and by the APS more broadly for her research and development of the Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness training for social workers.

Lisa’s PhD research focuses on looking for opportunities to apply cultural responsiveness to policy design and implementation to improve policy effectiveness and make it more culturally safe and responsive for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Martine has been employed by the Department of Defence since 2007. Her research explores the Australian Defence Force’s strategic approach to mental health and wellbeing and how this influences the development of positive mental health in adults. Martine wants her research to inform the development of policy and interventions so as to promote positive mental health outcomes across the life-course and facilitate healthy transitions across the military lifecycle.

Anthony works at the Department of Social Services, contributing to the design and integration of performance and partnership functions under the Department of Social Services Grants Hub. He has over 20 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service, spanning several portfolios including Industry, Education, Health, Social Services and the Australian Public Service Commission. Seventeen of these years have been dedicated to working in Indigenous Australian policy and program delivery areas.

Anthony’s research uses a mixed-methods approach to examine the values and priorities that drive decision making by Australia’s federal public servants as they make critical choices about public spending (through grants) for social welfare.

Fiona joined the APS in 2002, working as a psychologist across both state and federal government. Fiona’s experiences have broadly focused on risk assessment and driven her interest in better understanding extremist violence. She is passionate about applying research to real-world contexts and improving evidence-based knowledge to inform decision making. 

Fiona’s doctoral research investigates the use of structured professional judgement to indirectly, but reliably, identify, triage and manage risk associated with extremist violence. Being able to better differentiate factors salient to risk in an Australian context provides opportunities for early identification, intervention and disengagement.

Working at the Department of Social Services, Tess provided advice on children’s policy, family policy and programs, homelessness policy, family safety, gambling, welfare quarantining and financial wellbeing.

Tess’s research explores the concept of employability from the perspective of mothers in the social security system. She is also investigating mothers' views on the impacts of family services, such as playgroups and parenting programs. In her thesis, Tess argues many mothers build confidence and social connections through participation in family services which in turn increases their employability, both real and self-perceived.

Anna has been a social policy director in the Department of Social Services since 2016. She previously spent many years working for government and non-government welfare services in the homelessness, domestic violence, mental health and disability sectors. Anna’s current focus has been on regulatory systems for welfare services. Most recently, she led work to develop the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Quality and Safeguards Commission, which was established in 2018.

Anna’s involvement in NDIS policy has informed her research topic, with a particular focus on the regulatory implications in welfare models, which include consumer-directed funding. Her thesis will examine how consumers of welfare services interact with a regulatory system and whether their representative civil society organisations become regulatory actors. The research will use a case study approach to construct network/node models, comparing the impact of consumers on welfare regulation in Australia to other, more mature commodified care markets in Europe and the United Kingdom.

James is a Principal Lawyer at the National Indigenous Australians Agency and has worked in the Indigenous Affairs portfolio for over six years, primarily practicing in public law. During this time, he has led teams of lawyers to advise on major legislative reforms (including to native title, land rights and higher education) and the design and establishment of new statutory bodies and reparatory schemes. He has also managed significant litigation on behalf of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the National Indigenous Australians Agency.

Australian public law requires some Indigenous entities to make decisions in accordance with traditional processes. James’ research will critically map and evaluate how Australia’s public law and institutional framework accommodates traditional decision-making in Indigenous entities and recommend where this can be improved.

Emma joined the Attorney-General’s Department in 2011 and has worked in a variety of legal policy roles across native title, constitutional law and human rights. In that time, Emma has provided advice to government on the implications of native title litigation, including a number of complex appellate matters. Emma prepared and was a member of the Australian delegation that appeared before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2017. She also prepared the delegation for its appearance before the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2019.

Emma’s research will explore women’s experiences of discriminatory job loss, including its contributing causes and the effectiveness of current prevention and redress schemes. The research will analyse mechanisms that hold potential for addressing discriminatory job loss, including measures implemented in comparable jurisdictions and any barriers or enablers to their effective implementation in the Australian context.

Timothy joined the Australian Public Service in 2009 and has seen first-hand the importance of good policy and how it impacts the lives of Australians. He has a vested interest in discussions on social and Indigenous policy. Timothy brings to the table a unique perspective in relation to public policy that will have an impact on the people closest to him.

The Masters of Public Policy from ANU will provide Timothy with an understanding of the processes and challenges of agenda-setting, formulation, implementation, management and evaluation of public policy. Critically, the program will help him gain a deeper understanding of the issues that contribute to failures in public policy and the prerequisites of successful policy-making.

Szabina Horvath joined the Directorate of Operations and International Law at the Department of Defence in 2009. Szabina has provided advice on detainee management issues, maritime operations, domestic implementation of international legal obligations, gender issues, interrogation doctrine, and a range of other international humanitarian law issues, as well as human rights matters relevant to military operations.

Szabina’s research will examine Australia’s extraterritorial human rights obligations. Specifically, the research will consider Australia’s human rights obligations when engaged in extraterritorial armed conflict, with reference to other extraterritorial situations which may enliven Australia’s human rights obligations. The research will postulate on the means and mechanisms that could reasonably satisfy Australia’s human rights obligations extraterritorially.

Prior to joining the Department of Health in 2010, Katrina worked on clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies both nationally and internationally. Whilst working for government, she has helped patients with rare, life-threatening conditions to access effective treatments; improve the sustainability of future PBS drug supply via pricing reviews; increase patient access to new and expanded pharmacy programs and protect public health through the scheduling of medicines and poisons.

Katrina’s research aims to evaluate the impacts of current medicines policy, regulatory processes, prescriber behaviour and clinical guideline content on ‘off-label’ prescribing and the potential repurposing of medicines. Australian and international policy perspectives will be studied. Katrina will use a mixed-methods approach to investigate factors that influence decision making in order to inform future policy development.

Jennifer is a Senior Adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s National Security and International Policy Group. Jennifer has experience advising government on a range of cross-cutting policy issues, including foreign interference, critical infrastructure, international defence engagement, and counter-terrorism.

Jennifer’s research will examine US-China competition for leadership over advanced and emerging technologies, and the implications for US allies including Australia. The findings of Jennifer’s research will inform the development of a policy framework which integrates security, economic and social considerations, and supports government decision-making in the long-term national interest.

Jennifer holds a Master of National Security Policy from the ANU’s National Security College. She was awarded First Class Honours and the University Medal for her research on urbanisation in India, as part of her Bachelor of Liberal Studies at Sydney University.

Shane’s research interests include domestic and international tax policy and fiscal policy. His current research is focused on examining taxpayers’ understanding of, and responses to, the Australian taxation system. Shane hopes his research will provide insights for the future design, implementation and administration of the tax system.

Shane has also contributed his time and skills to the Australian Taxation Office to produce the Australian Longitudinal Individuals File, a 10 per cent sample of tax records available for researchers in academia and public service. He was also instrumental in helping produce the Australia’s Future Tax System review. Based on his research from that review, he has co-authored a paper with international expert, Peter Sorensen.

Katy joined the public service in 2006 at what is now the Department of Social Services. An interest in the well-being of Indigenous people, particularly in remote areas, led her to take on work for the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in Sydney, and also with the Indigenous Coordination Centre in Darwin. Since 2012, Katy’s work has been on the evaluation and policy development of income management.

Katy’s research will explore the historical, political, social and economic context of the non-attendance of Indigenous primary school-age children in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. It will take a multi-method approach, investigating attendance trends through use of school attendance data, and will use qualitative data to explore, on individual and community levels, the reasons why some policies may, or may not, support or improve school attendance.

Therese joined the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (now Group) in 1999. She has helped design, develop and deliver science and technology outcomes to the Austalian Defence Force, which are critical for ensuring capability relevance is maintained in an increasingly complex, ambiguous environment. During that time, she expanded her professional skills by undertaking further biotechnology study, combining a personal passion with improving her ability to contribute to ADF and whole of government options in this rapidly evolving field.

Therese’s doctoral research will investigate new genetic sequencing technologies and complimentary development of bioinformatic tools to improve discovery and monitoring of pathogenic, emerging and engineered viruses of national security concern. These improved capabilities will be critical in informing policy and response development for known and emerging pathogens, contributing to the whole-of-government ability to avert catastrophic bioterrorism events or minimise their impact.

Genna joined the Australian Public Service in 2010. She has extensive experience providing advice on Australia’s relationship with its Southeast Asian neighbours, including during a posting to Bangkok and managing Australia’s engagement with the ASEAN-led leaders’ forum, the East Asia Summit. She speaks Thai and Japanese.

The evolving geostrategic environment is increasingly influencing domestic policy, and it’s critical that APS employees provide evidence-based advice to enable Australia to deftly navigate the sharpening strategic competition. The ANU Master of Asian and Pacific Studies, will enhance Genna’s ability to analyse intersecting foreign, trade and security interests to provide nuanced policy advice.

Genna’s Masters thesis will analyse the intersection of Australia’s foreign policy, trade and security interests in our relationship with China and how this will inevitably affect our relationships with the region, major powers and multilateral forums.

Since joining the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2012, Hannah has worked in a variety of foreign policy and international development roles focusing on Southeast Asia and climate change. A three-year posting to Laos sparked Hannah’s interest in energy policy in Asia, where she was responsible for political and economic reporting and managed several Australian aid programs. Since 2018, Hannah has been part of Australia’s delegation to UN climate change negotiations, leading on gender and climate finance reporting issues. 

Hannah’s research aims to improve understanding of energy policy and governance in East Asia, in the context of the transition to a net zero emissions energy system to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. This will help Australian diplomats and policy-makers, as well as Australian business looking to invest in low-emissions export industries, to respond to the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly evolving regional energy sector. 

Michelle has spent the past decade working on climate change policy for the Australian Government. She most recently worked in the International Climate Change Branch of the Department of the Environment and Energy, where she led the global analytics function and supported Australia’s involvement in the G20 Climate and Sustainability Working Group. She was an emerging leader at the 2017 EU-Australia Leadership Forum and an inaugural recipient of the 2019 JWLand research fellowship for the ANU Grand Challenge Zero Carbon Energy in the Asia-Pacific.

Meeting the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement requires massive public and private investments to facilitate rapid decarbonisation, accelerate electrification, and develop negative emissions technologies in hard-to-decarbonise sectors. New kinds of investment governance are required to facilitate this transition. Through her PhD research, Michelle will explore different dimensions of this governance, including the development of an international benchmarking framework for Green Banks, models for green investment governance in the Asia-Pacific, and the roles of Public Banks in the transition to net zero emissions.

Andrew is from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. He is a 2015 Churchill Fellow and has worked in safety, health and environmental policy development, governance, planning and evaluation.

Andrew’s thesis seeks to describe the role of the public service in stewarding policy outcomes. His research examines the tension between linear accountability and multi-dimensional accounts of policy that engage with uncertainty and contradictory evidence in thinning markets. This is the location of ‘policy crafting’, which was heightened during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Andrew is examining the problem across regional thin market challenges to understand how policy analysis supports delivery of outcomes through uncertainty.  

Steve commenced his public service career in 2004 as a psychologist with Centrelink.  He most recently worked as a Director in the Assessment Services Branch of Services Australia, with responsibility for health & allied health professionals who undertake job capacity and employment service assessments, as well as specialist professional assessments in Northern Australia, North, Central and South East QLD. Steve’s background is in forensic psychology, having worked and studied in various forensic environments both in Australia and the United Kingdom. Steve’s previous postgraduate studies have been in the areas of Cognitive Neuroscience, Forensic Psychology and Public Administration. Steve is a proud Bundjalung man with his mob being from Grafton in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.

Steve’s research aims to understand the nature, prevalence and severity of service user violence and aggression perpetrated against frontline APS staff. He’s exploring the issues associated with the risk of violence and aggression through understanding pre-incident factors, including staff and service user behaviour, as well as operational and physical environments. Steve’s research uses a multi-phased mixed methods approach.  He hopes the evidence based outcomes of this research will provide insights that will lead to greater proactive risk mitigation policies, a reduction of service user violence and aggression but more importantly a decrease in physical and psychological injuries incurred by frontline public servants.

Since joining the Department of the Environment in 2007, Eliza has contributed to a wide range of biodiversity and climate change policies, from national parks and forests to light bulbs and landfills. In this, Eliza played an instrumental role in the design of Australia’s Carbon Farming Initiative. Eliza has also worked as the director of International Climate Change Negotiations at the Department of the Environment and Energy. She is currently the acting General Manager at the Climate Change Authority.

Her research investigates inter-governmental cooperation on carbon markets and whether emissions trading could contribute to a more coordinated and effective global response to the threat of climate change.

Agnieszka’s has worked for various agencies in the Australian Public Service and in the UK Department for Work and Pensions. Her experience is in the area of social policy development, research and evaluation. In the UK, she lead a team of economists, social researchers and statisticians to deliver groundbreaking research to support policy development. At the Department of Social Services, Agnieszka works on strengthening the Department’s research and evaluation capability and culture. To do this, she developed and Evidence Strategy and established an International What Works in Social Policy Working Group between DSS and the Department for Work and Pensions in the UK.

Agnieszka’s research includes an examination of income support dynamics among vulnerable Australian youth, with a focus on changing economic conditions and welfare to work reforms. She is also a Fellow at the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Crawford School of Public Policy and a Board Member of the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS).

Emily Pugin is a Kombumerri woman from the Gold Coast, Queensland. She joined the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) in 2013 and has worked across Australia’s foreign policy, international development, multilateral and trade portfolios. Most recently, Emily was posted as a diplomat to Australia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna, Austria, where she had a range of multilateral and bilateral responsibilities to advance Australia’s interests. Emily lead Australia’s engagement at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime where she negotiated international drugs policy and represented Australia at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which covers a range of global security issues. Emily has also managed Australia’s bilateral relationships with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Slovakia. Emily is undertaking a Master of Public Policy at ANU’s Crawford School and will return to DFAT upon completion to further her contribution to the development and implementation of Australia’s foreign policy.

Claire is a proud Torres Strait woman who grew up on Badu Island. In 2007, Claire moved to Canberra to work at the Department of Education, Science and Training. She has worked in Indigenous affairs for the last 12 years.

Claire currently works at the National Indigenous Australians Agency and leads the Teaching and Learning Policy Team. She is responsible for the development of policy and strategies to improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school students through national leadership and management of a number of flagship government initiatives.

Penny Sullivan is a Sir Roland Wilson scholar and PhD candidate at the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU. She has over ten years of experience working on water management in the Queensland and Australian public services. She worked on developing and implementing the controversial Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Her research focuses on intergovernmental relations in federal water management, seeking to understand how state and federal governments pursue their objectives in water conflicts with each other. Thanks to her Sir Roland Wilson Foundation scholarship she has been able to conduct extensive fieldwork interviewing practitioners and participants for case studies in Spain and the United States, as well as in Australia.

Timothy joined the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 2015.  Between 2015 and 2019, Timothy supported the Prime Minister’s engagement in the G20; was the Australian Government’s lead representative on the G20 Digital Economy Taskforce; and undertook secondments to the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, the Policy Evaluation Branch in the Indigenous Affairs Group, and the Office for Women. He has published original economic research with colleagues in peer reviewed journals and conference volumes, and presented at numerous conferences. Prior to joining PM&C, Timothy spent almost a decade providing advice on multinational taxation, economic and financial policy in the Commonwealth Treasury, the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance, and in the private sector.

Timothy’s research will investigate output and unemployment fiscal multipliers in Australia, and how these vary based on capacity utilisation and the stance of fiscal policy. It will also explore cross-country evidence concerning how multipliers differ based on these factors, with reference to differences in exchange rate regimes, economic openness, government debt, and monetary policy settings.

Nu Nu joined the Department of Treasury in 2005 and has a broad range of experience across tax policy and legislation as well as macroeconomic policy, modelling and forecasting. She has also worked in the Department in Industry’s business tax incentives area and at the ANU Crawford School as a research fellow. Nu Nu led the BHP’s macroeconomic team in Singapore to develop a new forecasting system to underpin commodity price forecasts, and worked in the World Bank’s macroeconomic modelling team in Washington DC.  

Nu Nu’s research will examine the effectiveness of business tax policies in achieving macroeconomic stabilisation objectives, taking explicit account of firm heterogeneity. The trade-off with longer-run objectives of economic efficiency and growth will also be explored. Empirical analysis including dynamic panel and regression discontinuity methods will be undertaken using firm-level datasets. These empirical insights will feed into the development of a general equilibrium model of the Australian economy that can be used for tax policy analysis.