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Image of Pat Turner scholarship alumnus Cris Castro
SRW Pat Turner Scholarship Graduated 2022

Cris Castro

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

The Australian National University

Master of Leadership

After completing a double degree in economics and commerce, Cris entered the public service in 1999 and was later accepted into the 2000 graduate program. Cris’ public service career has included policy and program roles covering Indigenous employment and economic development, strategic policy roles, corporate governance roles, and in vocational education and training policy and legislation.

Cris is a descendant of the Stolen Generations. With a father removed from his mother in Meanjin (Brisbane) on Turrbal and Yuggera country, Cris was born and raised on Ngunnawal land. Growing up in Canberra with two parents who worked in public sector roles, some might say his pathway into the APS was predictable.

Cris’ Master of Leadership degree included specialisations in business administration, public policy and leadership. Through his studies, Cris explored how emerging organisational performance frameworks and leadership models can best be applied in the public service context, helping to ensure the APS retains its ongoing relevance to both the Government of the day and to the public it serves. Cris was the recipient of the Pat Turner Coursework Prize in 2020 and 2021.

Since returning to service, Cris has been promoted to Assistant Secretary in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, responsible for driving efforts across DEWR to help Close the Gap.

Cris is the alumni representative on the Pat Turner Scholarship Advisory Group.

Peter J Bligh
SRW Pat Turner Scholarship Graduated 2020

Peter J Bligh

National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

Australian National University

Graduate Diploma of Economics

Peter joined the APS in 2012. He has provided advice on program design, program management, strategic policy and regulatory administration for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. While doing this, Peter has embedded strategies to enhance Indigenous outcomes across the breadth of his work.

Peter is using his postgraduate study to continue to enhance Indigenous outcomes by applying economics to policy formulation and evaluation. He is also hoping to develop embedded understanding of issues involved in the coordination of economic policies, and better analyse the economic effects of policy changes and communicate them to a public, business or government audience.

Helen Benassi
Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship Graduated 2021

Dr

Helen Benassi

Department of Health and Aged Care

Australian National University

PhD title: Mental health help-seeking beliefs and behaviours in the Australian Defence Force: Intersections with e-mental health and self-management

Helen is currently Director, National Mental Health Surveys, Translation and Research at the Department of Health and Aged Care. Her responsibilities include the oversight of national mental health research data collections, including Young Minds: Our Future which will provide mental health prevalence rates for Australian children and adolescents - the first available in a decade. Since returning to the Australian Public Service, Helen has worked with ANU researchers on Government-funded projects with a direct policy impact (eg Mental health and wellbeing around the Voice to Parliament Referendum). Previously, Helen worked for the Department of Defence and managed the delivery of a number of influential research projects examining mental health prevalence, service needs and resilience in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and veteran community.

Helen’s PhD research examined stigma and barriers to mental health care in the ADF, as well as the role e-mental health plays in treatment-seeking behaviour, early intervention, and self-management in a workplace context. Helen was co-author on a number of 2018 and 2019 Department of Veterans’ Affairs reports examining mental health in current and former ADF members and pathways to mental health care, including technology use. Her research has been presented both within Australia and internationally, was tabled at the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and she has contributed her knowledge in military think tanks and international forums.

Supervisor:
Professor Phil Batterham
  • Benassi H and Steele N (2011) ‘Post-Operational Mental Health Surveillance: Middle East Area of Operations 2010’. Technical Brief 13-11. Department of Defence, Canberra.
  • Benassi H (2012) ‘Post-Operational Mental Health: Bi-Annual Surveillance Report’. Technical Brief 04-12. Department of Defence, Canberra.
  • Steele N, Benassi H, Chesney C, Nicholson C, Fogarty G (2014) ‘Evaluating the Merits of Using Brief Measures of PTSD or General Mental Health Measures in Two-Stage PTSD Screening’. Military Medicine, 179(12):1497-1502.
  • Van Hooff M, McFarlane A, Davies C, Searle A, Fairweather-Schmidt A, Verhagen A, Benassi H, Hodson S (2014) ‘The Australian Defence Force Mental Health Prevalence and Wellbeing Study: design and methods’. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5(1),  DOI: 10.3402/ejpt.v5.23950.
  • Searle A, Van Hooff M, McFarlane A, Davies C, Fairweather-Schmidt A, Hodson S, Benassi H and Steele N (2015) ‘The validity of military screening for mental health problems: Diagnostic accuracy of the PCL, K10 and AUDIT scales in an entire military population’. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 24(1):32-45.
  • Searle A, Van Hooff M, McFarlane A, Davies C, Tran T, Hodson S, Benassi H, Steele N (2017) ‘Screening for Depression and Psychological Distress in a Currently Serving Military Population: The Diagnostic Accuracy of the K10 and the PHQ9’. Assessment, 26(8):1411-1426. DOI: 10.1177/1073191117745124.
  • Forbes D, Van Hooff M, Lawrence-Wood E, Sadler N, Hodson S, Benassi H, Hansen C, Avery J, Varker T, O’Donnell M, Phelps A, Frederickson J, Sharp M, Searle A, McFarlane A (2018) Pathways to Care, Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study, Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
  • Van Hooff M, Lawrence-Wood E, Hodson S, Sadler N, Benassi H, Hansen C, Grace B, Avery J, Searle A, Iannos M, Abraham M, Baur J, McFarlane A (2018) Mental Health Prevalence, Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study, Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
  • Kelsall H, Sim M, Van Hooff M, Lawrence-Wood E, Benassi H, Sadler N, Hodson S, Hansen C, Avery J, Searle A, Ighani H, Iannos M, Abraham M, Baur J, Saccone E and McFarlane A (2018) Physical Health Status Report, Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study. Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
  • Burns J, Van Hooff M, Lawrence-Wood E, Benassi H, Sadler N, Hodson S, Hansen C, Avery J, Searle A, Iannos M, Abraham M, Baur J and McFarlane A (2019) Technology Use and Wellbeing, Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study. Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
  • Bryant R, Lawrence-Wood E, Baur J, McFarlane A, Hodson S, Sadler N, Benassi H, Howell S, Abraham M, Iannos M, Hansen C, Searle and Van Hooff M (2019) Mental Health Changes Over Time: a Longitudinal Perspective: Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study. Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
  • Lawrence-Wood E, McFarlane A, Lawrence A, Sadler N, Hodson S, Benassi H, Bryant R, Korgaonkar M, Rosenfeld J, Sim M, Kelsall H, Abraham M, Baur J, Howell S, Hansen C, Iannos M, Searle A and Van Hooff M (2019) Impact of Combat Report, Impact of Combat Study. Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
  • Hansen C, McFarlane A, Iannos M, Sadler N, Benassi H, Lawrence-Wood E, Hodson S, Searly A and Van Hooff M (2020) ‘Psychosocial factors associated with psychological distress and functional difficulties in recently transitioned and current serving regular Australian Defence Force members’. Psychiatry Research, 286, DOI 10.1016/j.psyhres.2020.112860.
  • Gee B L, Han J, Benassi H and Batterham P J (2020) ‘Suicidal thoughts, suicidal behaviours and self-harm in daily life: A systematic review of ecological momentary assessment studies’. Digit Health, 6, DOI: 10.1177/2055207620963958.
  • Benassi H (2021) Mental health help-seeking beliefs and behaviours in the Australian Defence Force: Intersections with e-mental health and self-management [PhD thesis], The Australian National University, Canberra.
  • Fikretoglu D, Sharp M, Adler A, Bélanger S, Benassi H, Bennett C, Bryant R Busuttil W, Cramm H, Fear N, Greenberg N, Heber A, Hosseiny F, Hoge C, Jetly R, McFarlane A, Morganstein J, Murphy D, O’Donnell M, Phelps A, Richardson D, Sadler N, Schnurr P, Smith P, Ursano R, Van Hooff M, Wessely S, Forbes D and Pedlar D (2022) ‘Pathways to mental health care in active military populations across the Five-Eyes nations: An integrated perspective’. Clinical Psychology Review, 91, DOI:10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102100.
  • Dell L, Casetta C, Benassi H, Cowlishaw S, Agathos J, O’Donnell M, Crane M, Lewis V, Pacella B, Terhaag S, Morton, D, McFarlane A, Bryant R, and Forbes D (2022) Mental health across the early years in the military. Psychological Medicine: 1–9.
  • Metcalf O, Lawrence-Wood E, Baur J, Van Hooff M, Forbes D, O’Donnell M, Sadler N, Hodson S, Benassi H, Varker T, Battersby M, McFarlane, A and Cowlishaw S (2022) ‘Prevalence of gambling problems, help-seeking, and relationships with trauma in veterans’. PLoS ONE, 17(5): e0268346, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268346.
  • Varker T, Cowlishaw S, Baur J, McFarlane A, Lawrence-Wood E, Metcalf O, Van Hooff M, Sadler N, O’Donnell M L, Hodson S, Benassi H and Forbes D (2022) ‘Problem anger in veterans and military personnel: Prevalence, predictors, and associated harms of suicide and violence’. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 151:57-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.04.004.
Image of Sir Roland Wilson Pat Turner alumna Patricia Akee
SRW Pat Turner Scholarship Graduated 2022

Patricia (Trish) Akee

Alumni Ambassador

Torres Strait Regional Authority

The Australian National University

Master of Culture Health and Medicine, College of Arts and Social Sciences

Trish is a Meriam Neur (Murray Island woman), from Waibene (Thursday Island), Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait). She comes from a strong and proud family, with lineage to the Geuram tribe from Mer and family connections to Dauar Island, Yarrabah, New Caledonia and Jamaica. Trish’s professional journey has been quite expansive. Over the past 24 years she has worked in a variety of roles in government, non-government and community organisations. She is a key community advocate and leader, having supported the ACT Torres Strait Islander community both personally and professionally in her role as Director of the Kara Buai Torres Strait Islander Corporation in Canberra.

Trish commenced her career in APS with the Department of Health and Aged Care, influencing and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy and programs. Following completion of a Master of Culture, Health and Medicine at ANU, she accepted a secondment opportunity with Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, in the department’s First Nations Policy – Closing the Gap team.

Currently, Trish is working on Country in Waibene (Thursday Island), leading strategic engagement, policy and projects in the Torres Strait Regional Authority’s healthy communities and safe communities programs.

Her goal as a Pat Turner alumna and Torres Strait Islander leader in the APS is to elevate and strengthen the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the entirety of the policy lifecycle.​

Owen Freestone
Sir Roland Wilson 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
  • 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.
Melanie Broder
Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship Graduated 2021

Dr

Melanie Broder

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

The Australian National University

PhD title: Rhetoric over reality? Assessing the success of deterrence in cyberspace: Israeli and US cybersecurity approaches between 2008-2018

Melanie has two decades of experience across the Australian Federal Government, working in the Departments of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Defence, Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Foreign Affairs and Trade. Melanie has worked across policy, analysis, and capability areas, including large scale legislative reform and major policy shifts. Melanie’s defence and national security experience contributed to her passion for protecting Australia’s strategic interests from non-traditional security threats.

Melanie’s doctoral research used a qualitative approach to examine the practical applications of the principles of deterrence on cyber security from 2008-2018. Her study investigated the policies and relative success of the United States of America and the State of Israel. Melanie's work identified principles that may be appropriate for the Australian strategic context and contributed to a global understanding of the efficacy of cyber deterrence policies for governments.

After completing her PhD, Melanie worked as the cyber adviser for the Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security. Melanie has also worked on the practical delivery of secure tech transformation for Government for global tech firm Accenture. She is a passionate advocate for advancing and promoting diverse viewpoints in national security, and offers mentoring for any women wishing to break into the cyber field.

Supervisor:
Emeritus Professor Roger Bradbury
Penelope Sullivan
Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship Graduated 2024

Dr

Penelope Sullivan

Australian National University

PhD title: The techniques and strategies governments use to influence one another in federal water management: lessons for Australia from the US and Europe

Penny Sullivan was a Sir Roland Wilson scholar and PhD candidate at the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU. She had 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 focused on intergovernmental relations in federal water management, seeking to understand how state and federal governments pursue their objectives in water conflicts with each other. With the support of a Sir Roland Wilson scholarship she was able to conduct extensive fieldwork interviewing practitioners and participants for case studies in Spain and the United States, as well as in Australia.

Supervisor:
Associate Professor Keith Barney, Dr Daniel Connell
Image of Siddharth Shirodkar
Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship Graduated 2021

Dr

Siddharth Shirodkar

Indigenous Business Australia

The Australian National University

PhD title: Unlocking Indigenous entrepreneurial potential: A mixed methods study of the pathways and barriers to business for Indigenous Australians.

Dr Siddharth Shirodkar is the Principal Economist at Indigenous Business Australia. Siddharth has worked in Indigenous economic development since 2015, joining the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to work on Indigenous entrepreneurship. He has worked as an economist in the Australian Government for close to 15 years, including at the National Indigenous Australians Agency, the Treasury, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and with the former Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Siddharth’s PhD research was on the pathways and barriers to Indigenous Australians starting a business. He has taken a mixed-methods approach to investigate factors that are limiting opportunities for potential Indigenous entrepreneurs to get into business, including the impact of racial bias. His study involves econometric analysis and ground-breaking qualitative techniques to identify Australia’s hidden entrepreneurial potential. Siddharth submitted his PhD thesis in January 2021, and received his doctorate in July 2021.

    Supervisor:
    Dr Boyd Hunter

    ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

    • Garton P, Sedgewick M, and Shirodkar S (2010) ‘Australia’s Current Account Deficit in a Global Imbalances Context’, Economic Round-up 2010, 1, The Treasury, Canberra.
    • Shirodkar S, Hunter B, and Foley D (2018) ‘Ongoing growth in the number of Indigenous Australians in business’. Working Paper 125, ANU Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Canberra.
    • Shirodkar S (2019) ‘Bias against Indigenous Australians: Implicit association test results for Australia’. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues, 22(3-4):3-34.
    • Shirodkar S and Hunter B (2019) ‘Factors underlying the likelihood of being in business for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians’, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 22(1):5-28.
    • Shirodkar S, Hunter B and Foley D (2020) ‘A new method of estimating the number of Indigenous business owner-managers’. CSRM & SRC Methods paper, No. 2/2020.
    • Shirodkar S and Hunter B (2021) ‘Implicit biases and their effect on Indigenous business ownership’. Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 24(1):1-24.
    • Shirodkar S (2021) Unlocking Indigenous entrepreneurial potential: A mixed methods study of the pathways and barriers into business for Indigenous Australians [PhD Thesis], The Australian National University, Canberra.

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    Timothy Watson
    Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship Graduated 2025

    Dr

    Timothy Watson

    Department of Social Services

    Australian National University

    PhD title: Hysteresis and fiscal policy 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.

    Supervisor:
    Professor Renee Fry-McKibbin

    Watson T (2024) Hysteresis and Fiscal Policy in Australia [PhD Thesis], The Australian National University, Canberra.

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    The Sir Roland Wilson Foundation is a partnership between The Australian National University, Charles Darwin University and the Australian Public Service.