Opening Doors: data and analytics shedding light on housing challenges

Michele is Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and commenced as Governor on 18 September 2023. She is Chair of the Reserve Bank Board, Payments System Board and Council of Financial Regulators. Prior to her current role, Ms Bullock was the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia. Ms Bullock has also held a variety of senior management positions in the Bank. She was Assistant Governor (Financial System), Assistant Governor (Business Services), Assistant Governor (Currency), Adviser for the Currency Group and, before that, Head of Payments Policy Department.

David was appointed Australian Statistician on 11 December 2019. As Agency Head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, he is accountable for the functions and operations of the Bureau. David was previously the Deputy Secretary, Economic and Australia’s G20 Sherpa at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Before joining the Department in September 2014, he was Executive Director of the Macroeconomic Group at the Australian Treasury. David joined the Treasury in January 2003, before which he was the Head of the Economic Research Department at the Reserve Bank of Australia from 1998 to 2002. Before joining the Reserve Bank, David worked as a research scientist in the Research School of Physical Sciences at the Australian National University. With financial support from a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship, David was visiting lecturer in the Economics Department and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University from August 1991 to June 1993. He holds PhD degrees in physiology from Cambridge University, England and in economics from the Australian National University. David was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (General Division) in 2022 for distinguished service to public administration, to economic research, to business, and to education.

Danielle is Chair of the Productivity Commission. She is also a member of the Australian Government’s Competition Review Expert Advisory Panel. Prior to joining the Commission, Danielle was CEO of the Grattan Institute. Danielle previously worked in senior roles at the ACCC and at NERA Economic Consulting. Danielle is an Honorary Fellow and former President of the Economic Society of Australia and was the co-founder and first Chair of the Women in Economics Network.

Colin has been involved in productivity-related research over a number of years at the PC, including the previous (2022) Productivity Inquiry and the 5 Pillar Inquiries also examining opportunities to improve productivity in the Australian economy. He has a Bachelor in Economics (First Class Honours) and is working towards a Masters in Statistics at the Australian National University.

Brendan is the Housing and Economic Security Program Director at Grattan Institute, where he leads Grattan’s work on housing, retirement incomes, and superannuation. He is a former macro-financial economist with the World Bank in Indonesia and consulted to the Bank in Latin America. Prior to that, he worked in the Australian Treasury in areas such as tax-transfer system reform and macro-economic forecasting, with a strong focus on the Chinese economy. Brendan holds a Masters of International Development Economics from the Australian National University and Bachelors of Commerce and Arts from the University of Melbourne.

Christian is an Assistant Secretary at Commonwealth Treasury and Head of the Office of the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, where he leads a team with expertise in housing policy, research, data and modelling. The Office supports the Council to deliver on its statutory duties to provide independent, evidence-based expert advice on housing matters to the Commonwealth Minister for Housing. The Council recently published its second report on the State of the Housing System. Prior to joining Treasury, Christian worked for 14 years as a financial market economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. Christian holds a Master of Finance from The University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Business from RMIT University.

Michael is the ABS Chief Data Officer and General Manager of the Statistical Infrastructure Division. He has an extensive background in official statistics having worked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Statistics New Zealand, the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations across a broad range of statistics. Prior to his current role, he was most recently the General Manager of the Social Statistics Division at the ABS, and prior to that the global advisor on national accounts at the United Nations.

Danika is a Senior Economist based in WA, at the Committee for Economic Development (CEDA). Prior to joining CEDA, she was an Associate Director at Deloitte Access Economics, where she focused on transport, future mobility, infrastructure and land use economic and policy analysis. Danika has worked across public policy and economics throughout her career, holding a public policy and Economist roles at RAC (WA) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WA). Danika holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Western Australia.

Ryan is a Principal Economist in the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Ryan has led cross-central bank working groups addressing key issues including capital market development, risks associated with private sector debt, and macroprudential policies aimed at mitigating housing market vulnerabilities. Ryan’s recent research delves into the influence of monetary policy on corporate risk, housing markets and fiscal-monetary interactions. Before joining the BIS in 2012, Ryan served as a Senior Economist at the Bank of England. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

Gianni is the Research Director at the e61 Institute. Gianni previously held several senior positions at the Reserve Bank of Australia, including establishing and leading a research team – Micro Analysis and Data (MAD) – dedicated to examining macroeconomic issues using microeconomic data. He also worked at the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland. Gianni holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts/Commerce from the University of Sydney.

Martin is a research manager in the RBA’s Micro Analysis & Data section. He previously worked in the RBA’s Prices, Wages & Labour section, and in Treasury’s Tax Framework Division. He has worked as a consultant for the International Monetary Fund. Martin holds a Masters and PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford.

Natasha is an Assistant Director in Treasury’s Household Microdata Unit, where she leads research on inequality and disadvantage. She previously worked in Treasury’s Social Policy Division, and at the Grattan Institute. Natasha has an economics degree with first class honours from the University of New South Wales. 

Jonathan is a Senior Research Manager in the Economic Research Department, leading the Microdata analysis research stream at the RBA, having previously held a role at the Australian Treasury leading its microdata analysis team. He is part of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia’s Member Advisory Council on Dynamism, and is a research associate in the ‘Micro-Heterogeneity and Macroeconomic Performance’ program at the Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis at the Australian National University. Jonathan holds an MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics. His research focuses on using microdata to better understand macroeconomic questions, particularly around productivity and labour markets.

Declan is an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia, working in the Domestic Activity and Trade team. In this role Declan has been responsible for monitoring housing market developments and domestic activity forecasting.

Michael is Editor-at-Large for The Australian Financial Review, having spent the past four decades working for or editing Australia’s two national newspapers. In 2024, Michael completed nearly 13 years as Editor-at-Large for Australia’s national business, finance and political masthead after having guided it through the transition from being a newspaper-first publication to being primarily a premium digital premium-subscription news outlet. He moved to The Australian in 1998 as Business Editor and became Editor from 2000 to 2005 before later becoming its Economics Editor. He started at the Financial Review as industrial relations reporter based in Melbourne in 1982 before becoming economics correspondent in Canberra, Economics Editor in Sydney and then Washington correspondent during the first Clinton term. Michael completed a first class Honors degree in Economics at the University of Adelaide while doing a journalism cadetship on The Advertiser newspaper and before working as an economic research officer at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1981. Today he also is a board member of Care Australia.

Professor Breunig is the director of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Crawford School of Public Policy. From 2015 to 2016 he was the Director of the Crawford School of Public Policy. Professor Breunig is one of Australia’s leading Public Policy Economists. He has published in over 75 international academic journals in economics and public policy. Professor Breunig has made significant policy impact through a number of his research projects: the relationship between child care and women’s labour supply; the effect of immigration to Australia on the labour market prospects of Australians; the effect of switching to cash from food stamps in the U.S. food stamp program and the inter-generational transmission of disadvantage.

Professor Breunig’s research is motivated by important social policy issues and debates. His work is characterized by careful empirical study and appropriate use of statistical technique. Professor Breunig’s research agenda has led to many partnerships with government organizations in Australia and overseas. He works regularly with the Australian Treasury, the Department of Employment, the Department of Education, the Department of Industry, the Department of Communication and the Arts, the Productivity Commission, the Australian Bureau of Statistics as well as many other agencies. He has been a consultant to the private sector on marketing, mergers, bank competition and customer loyalty programs.

Leading the Actuaries Institute as Chief Executive, Elayne Grace has driven influential research across multiple domains including climate change, intergenerational equity, AI & the digital economy, retirement and insurance affordability. A strategic advisor to government panels and recognized in AFR's 100 Women of Influence, Elayne brings data-driven perspectives to complex public policy challenges requiring long-term economic and social sustainability frameworks. Elayne is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK).  

Matthew is an Associate in Grattan’s Housing and Economic Security Program. He has previously worked at the Parliamentary Budget Office and Commonwealth Treasury in various roles analysing personal income tax, budgets, and social policy. Matt’s research interests include housing policy, planning reform, and public trust in government. He holds a First Class Honours degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University.

Peter is Chief Economist at the Centre for Independent Studies, where his work focusses on housing, monetary policy and financial regulation. He previously worked at the Reserve Bank of Australia, the US Federal Reserve Board, the OECD and the Commonwealth Treasury.  Peter has numerous publications in international academic journals.  He has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

Matt is the Deputy Secretary of the Social Security Stream at the Department of Social Services. Matt joined the Department of Social Services in January 2020. In his current role, he is responsible for income support policies and programs that support families, carers, the aged, people with disabilities, students and apprentices, as well as people of working age. He oversees the department’s centralised data strategy and evaluation functions, as well as housing and homelessness policies and programs. 

Matt previously held a number of senior executive positions at the Department of the Treasury, including leading the delivery of the department’s corporate support and strategy, as well as key roles in the delivery of the Federal Budget and tax policy. He has also represented the Australian Treasury internationally, including a posting to Australia’s Permanent Delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Matt holds a Masters of Financial Management from the Australian National University, and a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Adelaide.