Deakin experts available for analysis and commentary on Federal Budget

ECONOMY

Professor Gill North – Deakin Law School
Professor North is a chartered accountant and experienced financial analyst. She has worked in senior executive positions at multinational corporations and investment banks in the major financial centres (London, Tokyo, New York and Sydney). She is also the co-owner of Digital Finance Analytics, and has published more on responsible lending and financial advice than any other Australian academic.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Budget fairness and efficiency, household financial stress.

Professor Sandeep Gopalan – Deakin Law School
Professor Gopalan worked as an investment banker on Wall Street, and is an expert on commercial law, international law, and corporate governance. He has appeared on a number of TV and radio shows as an expert commentator on a variety of legal issues.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: How the budget will impact competitiveness and innovation in the corporate sector, as well as potential international impacts.

Professor Jon Altman – Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
Professor Altman is a research professor whose research engages with questions of social justice and human rights for minority groups globally. More particularly, he looks at issues of appropriate economic development and associated policy for Indigenous Australia; hybrid economy theory and practice; and the economic engagement of Indigenous people with Australian and global capitalism.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Economic policy particularly as it relates to Indigenous Australians

EDUCATION

Professor Christine Ure - Head of Deakin School of Education
Professor Ure is a leader in the national debate around teacher education reform and led the Victorian debate in her capacity as President of the Victorian Council of Deans of Education.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Education reform

Professor Jillian Blackmore - Deakin School of Education
Professor Blackmore has expertise in a range of education issues including educational leadership, policy and governance.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Education

ENVIRONMENT

Associate Professor Euan Ritchie – Deakin School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Dr Ritchie is an Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at Deakin’s Centre for Integrative Ecology, within the School of Life and Environmental Sciences. He is a passionate and prolific science communicator. He believes governments need to better value and invest in the environment and species conservation, as this will not only provide ecological benefits, but substantial net economic, cultural and social ones too.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Government investment in the environment and conservation.

Professor Brett Bryan – Deakin School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Professor Bryan is a senior member of Deakin’s Centre of Integrative Ecology, in the School of Life Environmental Sciences and researches global change, environment and society. His expertise is in finding solutions for sustainability in land systems considering cross-cutting issues such as climate change, food security, nature conservation, water resources, energy, land degradation, and ecosystem services.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Public spending on environment, renewable energy, climate change and sustainability.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Professor Damien Kingsbury – Deakin School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Professor Kingsbury is an expert in international politics, politics of development and security issues. He is a regular national and international media commentator on international affairs.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Defence. Intelligence. Foreign affairs. Foreign aid budgets

Dr Scott Burchill –Deakin School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr Burchill is a senior lecturer in international relations and researches international political economy and Australian foreign policy. He is a regular media commentator.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Foreign aid. Foreign affairs.

HEALTH

Professor Anna Peeters – Director of Deakin Institute for Healthcare Transformation
Professor Peeters is Professor of Epidemiology and Equity in Public Health, and Head of Obesity and Population Health, in Deakin’s School of Health and Social Development. In 2017, Professor Peeters spearheaded the release of the Tipping the Scales Report, calling for urgent Federal Government action to address Australia’s serious obesity problem. With less than one in four Australians at a healthy weight Professor Peeters believes it’s important the Federal Government prioritises action on obesity prevention and treatment.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Public investment in obesity prevention and treatment

Professor Cathy Mihalopoulos – Deakin Health Economics
Professor Mihalopoulos is a senior health economist in the Centre for Population Health Research at Deakin’s School of Health and Social Development. Her research interests lie mainly in the economic evaluation of mental health and psychosocial care within an Australian context.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Government spending on mental health.

INFRASTRUCTURE & TRANSPORT

Dr Hermione Parsons – Director of Deakin Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics
Dr Parsons is an Industry Professor at Deakin’s Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics. She has more than 20 years executive management experience in public and private sector organisations with responsibility for: port landside logistics, multimodal infrastructure, competition, regulation, supply chain reengineering, perishable food supply chains and industry government relations.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Freight infrastructure developments (ports, roads, rail), urban logistics, agrifood, food exports, food waste and recycling.

Dr Trevor Thornton – Deakin School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Dr Thornton is a lecturer in hazardous materials management and an expert in recycling and waste management at Deakin’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences. He previously worked at Victoria's Environment Protection Authority and has consulted widely in waste management within Australia and overseas, with recent projects based on identifying recycling contamination and educating for waste management.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Waste management, recycling, and the fallout from China's decision to ban imports of Australian paper and plastic waste.

LAW & ORDER

Peter Norden – Deakin School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Mr Norden is an honorary fellow with Deakin and has a career long history working with communities across Australia and the region with a particular interest in issues around social justice. He has expertise in the areas of criminal justice policy, juvenile justice, high security prisons, police accountability, crime prevention, drug and alcohol treatment programs and the death penalty.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Law and order, crime prevention and prisons.

Dr Emma Ryan – Deakin School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr Ryan researches policing and criminal justice and has recently commented on the need for better policies rather than building more jails to turn around that crime rates and prison overcrowding.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Prisons, crime

POLITICAL ANALYSIS

Dr Geoffrey Robinson – Deakin School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr Robinson is senior lecturer in politics and Australian studies and an experienced media commentator. His areas of expertise cover broad aspects of politics and social policy.

RELEVANT SUBJECT AREAS: Politics, social policy

Media contact (Environment, Health, Infrastructure and Transport):
Elise Snashall-Woodhams
Senior Media Coordinator, Deakin University
P: 03 9246 8593
M: 0436 409 659
E: e.snashallwoodhams@deakin.edu.au
T: @DeakinMedia

Media contact (Economy, Education, Foreign affairs, Law and Order, Political analysis):
Mandi O’Garretty
Senior Media Coordinator, Deakin University
P: 03 5227 2776
M: 0418 361 890
E: mandi.ogarretty@deakin.edu.au
T: @DeakinMedia