Rotary Lunch 30 Sep 2026

Rotary Melbourne Lunch 30 September 2026

Fireside Chat with Ian Harper AO, Public Policy Economist

Topic: Q&A on 'The Economic Development of Australia - How Did We Get Here'

Ian Harper is a professional economist best known for his work in public policy.

He chairs the Australian Statistics Advisory Council for the Australian Government and advises Kearney Australia New Zealand as a member of its Advisory Group. Until August 2026, he served as a member of the Monetary Policy Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

For six years until November 2023, Ian was Dean & Director of Melbourne Business School and Co-Dean of the Faculty of Business & Economics at The University of Melbourne. Prior to that, he was a founding partner of Deloitte Access Economics for seven years.

From March 2014 to March 2015, Ian chaired the Australian Government’s Competition Policy Review and, prior to that, served as inaugural Chairman of the Australian Fair Pay Commission from December 2005 to July 2009. From May to December 1995, Ian chaired the Melbourne Metropolitan Hospitals Planning Board for the Victorian Government.

Ian was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2000 and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2009. In 2016 he was elected a Distinguished Public Policy Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia and in 2024 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Economics by The University of Queensland.

Ian was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours for his distinguished service to education in the field of economics, and to public and monetary policy development and reform.

Join us to hear from a distinguished Public Policy Economist.