Danielle Wood, Chair of the Productivity Commission, presented the 2023 Freebairn Public Lecture at the University of Melbourne, on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.
Tax reform in Australia: An impossible dream?
Many spruik the benefits of tax reform for productivity, budget sustainability and fairness but governments have long been shy of pursuing major tax changes. In this year's Freebairn Public Lecture, Danielle Wood explores the major blockers to reform and charting a way forward.
About the speaker
An alum of the Faculty of Business and Economics, Danielle Wood is the Chair of the Productivity Commission. She is the first woman to hold this position and was described by the Treasurer of Australia, the Honorable Dr Jim Chalmers as an "outstanding economist who [brings] exceptional public policy expertise to the Productivity Commission".
Prior to joining the Commission, she was CEO of the Grattan Institute and Head of its Budgets and Government Program. During her time at Grattan, Danielle also held roles as a member of the Australian Government’s Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, the Parliamentary Budget Office Expert Advisory Committee, the Jobs and Skills Australia Consultative Forum, and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Research Committee.
Danielle has previously worked in senior roles at the ACCC and at NERA Economic Consulting. She has published extensively on economic reform priorities, budgets, tax reform, women’s workforce participation, generational inequality, and reforming political institutions. She is also a passionate advocate for women in economics and was the co-founder and first Chair of the Women in Economics Network.
Danielle is an Honorary Fellow and former President of the Economic Society of Australia, and a Research Fellow of the Women’s Leadership Institute. She is currently an ex-officio member of the Australian Government’s Competition Review Expert Advisory Panel.
She holds an Honours degree in Economics from the University of Adelaide and two Masters degrees, one in Economics and one in Competition Law, from the University of Melbourne.
About the lecture series
The Freebairn Lecture series is named after Emeritus Professor John Freebairn in recognition of the many significant contributions he has made to education, economics, and public policy. He was Head of the Department of Economics from 1997 to 2002 and Director of the Melbourne Institute for Applied Economic and Social Research from 2005 to 2007. He held the Ritchie Chair in Economics from 2008 until his recent retirement. He is one of Australia’s best-known contributors on economic issues and has been deeply involved in taxation reform and public policy.