Sir Roland Wilson Foundation

Matt is a Director at the Treasury and has been a member of the public service since 2009. His work has primarily focused on policy analysis on Australia’s tax and transfer system including revenue forecasting and costing and distributional analysis of tax and transfer policies using microsimulation modelling. Matt’s analysis has contributed to Budget updates and the 2021 Intergenerational Report. He has also been involved in major model development work on Treasury’s CAPITA and MARIA microsimulation models.

Matt’s research aims to use administrative data to build a dynamic microsimulation model of Australia’s tax and transfer system. This would deliver a durable tool for policy analysis that provides important insights on the sustainability and equity, both within and between generations, of personal tax and transfer policy settings. In doing so, it would build on the existing Australian toolkit of representative agent and cohort analysis to allow for the kinds of more granular and detailed distributional analysis to improve the debate around, and implementation of, public policy.

Andrew Perusco is a tobacco control policy and program specialist with over 20 years’ experience in the Commonwealth and NSW public services. Andrew has made significant contributions to tobacco control policy and program implementation, including leading: policy development and program implementation for the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program from 2016 to 2020; development of the National Tobacco Strategy 2012-2018; national policy approaches for electronic cigarettes; and planning, implementation and evaluation of the seminal Arabic-speakers tobacco control project in southwest Sydney.

Andrew is placed at the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University and his research is affiliated with the National Health and Medical Research Council, Centre for Research Excellence in Achieving the Tobacco Endgame. Andrew’s research explores why tobacco endgame measures have not been incorporated into Australia’s tobacco control policies, and what might precipitate adoption.

Tristram has worked in the Australian Treasury for close to a decade, alongside two years as Research Fellow and Project Director at the G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute. His work has covered a range of tax, international economic and fiscal policy issues. He has  worked at Crawford School on behalf of the Australian Treasury and been a visiting scholar at both the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany and the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University.

Tristram’s research will investigate the impact of Australia’s tax and transfer system over people’s lifetimes. He will use cross‑government investments in administrative data to focus on the extent of smoothing and rich-poor redistribution.

Dr Steve Munns is currently the Assistant Commissioner, for the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Branch at the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC). He is a proud Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung man currently living on Jagera country in Meanjin (Brisbane). His mob are from Grafton in the Northern Rivers area of NSW.

In his role, he is responsible for the First Nations Unit, the Diversity & Inclusion Strategies Team, Inclusion Policy Team and the Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Unit. Some of the current projects and initiatives being developed and managed in the D&I Branch are the SES100 initiative aimed at boosting First Nations employment across the APS; the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Employment Strategy; the APS Disability Employment Strategy; and the ADDRESS model for responding to psychosocial hazards.

Steve is a psychologist with his previous postgraduate studies having been in the areas of Cognitive Neuroscience, Forensic Psychology and Public Administration. His PhD research aimed to understand the nature, prevalence and severity of service user violence and aggression perpetrated against frontline Australian Public Service staff. He explored 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 used 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.

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.

Craig joined the Department of Human Services in 2016, having worked in four other APS departments and agencies and the ACT Government over a period of 20 years. With experience across policy, program administration and human resources in central, state and regional roles, Craig has purposely remained in Indigenous Affairs throughout his career.

Craig combined his professional experience, qualifications in strategic HR, and interest in cultural proficiency in his PhD research. Craig’s research used a mixed methods approach to investigate where unconscious bias impacts practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the Australian Public Service. With his research, Craig aimed to turn the organisational focus inward by investigating how Australian Government bureaucracy functions from a culturally proficient perspective.

Shane’s research interests include domestic and international tax policy and fiscal policy. His PhD research 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 help produce the Australian Longitudinal Individuals File, a 10 per cent sample of tax records available for researchers in academia and public service. He also helped produce the Australia’s Future Tax System review. Based on his research from that review, he co-authored a paper with international expert, Peter Sorensen, on options to reform capital taxation in Australia.

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 is currently seconded to the Australian Submarine Agency.

Szabina’s research examined Australia’s extraterritorial human rights obligations. Specifically, the research considered 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. Szabina’s thesis includes a decision-making framework for determining when Australia may owe specific human rights obligations.

Lisa is a Yorta Yorta woman who has worked in the Australian Public Service for around 20 years. Her current role is leading the First Nations Employment Policy and Programs Branch at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Lisa undertook her PhD at the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University. This research focused on looking for opportunities to uplift the cultural capability of the APS to improve policy effectiveness and make it more culturally safe and responsive for First Nations peoples.

Her research, using Indigenous research methodologies to interview non-Indigenous decisionmakers in the APS, has been recognised for its ground-breaking contribution to public administration. 

She found that institutional whiteness is so thoroughly embedded in APS systems and processes that it impedes the service’s ability to effectively design and implement policy for First Nations people. To address this, Lisa developed a model for building cultural capability in the APS. 

Conway’s innovative approach saw her win the Australian Political Studies Association’s prestigious PhD Award for her thesis.