Federal budget 2023-24: UNSW experts available for comment

On May 9, the Australian government is scheduled to deliver an updated 2023-24 Australian federal budget. The following UNSW experts are available for comment:  

UNSW Business School – School of Economics 

• Dr Tim Neal, Senior Research Fellow, School of Economics, UNSW Business School, can comment on climate change and its role in the budget. He can be reached at timothy.neal@unsw.edu.au. 

• Dr Nalini Prasad, Senior Lecturer, School of Economics, UNSW Business School, can comment on housing, inflation and its relationship with interest rates. She can be reached at Nalini.prasad@unsw.edu.au.  

• Gigi Foster, Professor, School of Economics, UNSW Business School, can comment on the general impact of the budget, micro/macro-economic perspectives, debt, productivity and economic growth. She can be reached at gigi.foster@unsw.edu.au.   

UNSW Business School – School of Accounting, Auditing & Taxation 

• Dr Rodney Brown, Senior Lecturer, School of Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, UNSW Business School, can comment on tax policy, superannuation, tax avoidance, negative gearing, and capital gains tax discount. He can be contacted at rodney.brown@unsw.edu.au. 

• Michael Walpole, Professor, School of Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, UNSW Business School, can comment on Goods and Services Tax (GST). He can be reached at m.walpole@unsw.edu.au.

• Ann Kayis-Kumar, Associate Professor, School of Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, UNSW Business School, can comment on National Tax Clinics Program. She can be reached at a.kayis@unsw.edu.au.

• Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor, School of Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, UNSW Business School, can comment on most tax matters and tax avoidance, excluding international tax measures. He can be reached at d.boccabella@unsw.edu.au. 

UNSW Business School – School of Risk & Actuarial Studies 

• Michael Sherris, Professor, School of Risk & Actuarial Studies at UNSW Business School, Chief Investigator and Director of Industry Engagement of the Ageing Asia Research Hub, hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR). He can comment on aged care, retirement, and superannuation. He can be reached at m.sherris@unsw.edu.au. 

UNSW Business School – School of Information Systems and Technology Management 

• Barney Tan, Professor and Head of School, School of Information Systems and Technology Management, UNSW Business School, can comment on the use of tech to improve the transparency of supply chains and compliance with new modern slavery laws, the use of technology in aged care, and the deployment of IT systems to support telehealth consultation. He can be reached at barney.tan@unsw.edu.au 

• Dr Eric Lim, Senior Lecturer, School of Information Systems and Technology Management, UNSW Business School, can comment on cryptocurrency, blockchain innovations, Web 3 economy and innovations. He can be reached at e.t.lim@unsw.edu.au. 

UNSW Business School – School of Banking and Finance 

• Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor, School of Banking and Finance, UNSW Business School, can comment on tax policy, including superannuation, innovation and venture incentives, housing, the RBA, and interest rates. He can be reached at mlhj@unsw.edu.au. 

• Peter Swan, Professor, School of Banking and Finance, UNSW Business School, can comment on Budget deficits, inflation and changes to superannuation. He can be reached via Victoria Ticha at v.ticha@usw.edu.au. 

UNSW Business School – School of Management and Governance 

• Rob Nicholls, Associate Professor, School of Management and Governance, UNSW Business School, can comment on cybersecurity in the context of small businesses and regulation, stimulating the digital economy (including NBN and capacity building), media regulation and platform businesses, and competition policy changes. He can be contacted at r.nicholls@unsw.edu.au. 

UNSW Business School – School of Marketing

• Maggie Dong, Professor and Head of School, School of Marketing, UNSW Business School, can speak on supply chain risks, supply chain resilience, geopolitics and international marketing/trade. She can be contacted at c.dong@unsw.edu.au.

UNSW Centre for Social Impact

• Professor Danielle Logue, Director of the Centre for Social Impact UNSW, can comment on innovation and industry policy, impact investing, SMEs and start-ups. She can be contacted at danielle.logue@unsw.edu.au and 0422 280 506.

• Chris Hartley, Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact UNSW, can comment on housing affordability, social housing need, and coordinated responses to addressing housing and homelessness. He can be contacted on 0401 648 216. 

• Dr  Meera Varadharajan, Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact UNSW, can comment on student educational outcomes and how they are affected by education inequity and the teacher shortage crisis. She can be reached at 0431 532 074.

• Dr Jack Noone, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact UNSW, can comment on individuals’ financial wellbeing. They can be reached at 0401 243 624.

UNSW Law & Justice – School of Global and Public Law 

• Dr Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, can comment on forced migration and refugee law. He can be contacted at d.ghezelbash@unsw.edu.au.

UNSW Law & Justice – School of Law, Society and Criminology 

• Lyria Bennett Moses, Professor & Director of the UNSW Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation, UNSW Law & Justice, can comment on cyber security law and policy. She can be contacted at lyria@unsw.edu.au.

• Cameron Holley, Professor, School of Law, Society and Criminology, UNSW Law & Justice, can comment on environmental law. He can be contacted at c.holley@unsw.edu.au.

UNSW Law & Justice - School of Private and Commercial Law 

• Ross Buckley, Scientia Professor, School of Private & Commercial Law, UNSW Law & Justice, can comment on FinTech and central bank digital currencies. He can be contacted at ross.buckley@unsw.edu.au. 

• Scott Donald, Associate Professor, School of Private & Commercial Law, UNSW Law & Justice, can comment on superannuation. He can be contacted at s.donald@unsw.edu.au.

UNSW Engineering 

• Professor Iain MacGill of the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications and Collaboration on Energy and Environmental Markets can comment on budget measures relating to energy transition pathways, renewable energy exports and the Australian National Electricity Market. He can be contacted at i.macgill@unsw.edu.au

• Dr Anna Bruce, Associate Professor, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering and Joint Director (Engineering) of the University’s Collaboration on Energy and Environmental Markets, can comment on measures in the budget related to Energy Transition, including Powering Our Nation (climate step up, powering the regions, rewiring the nation, community batteries, community solar banks etc.). She can be contacted at a.bruce@unsw.edu.au.

• Sushmita Ruj, Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science and Engineering, can comment on privacy-preserving data sharing and analytics, consent management, protection against data breaches,  digital identity management, Blockchain and Web3 ecosystem, post-quantum cryptography and crypto agility. She can be reached at sushmita.ruj@unsw.edu.au.

• Dr Edward Obbard, program co-ordinator of UNSW nuclear engineering postgraduagte programs, can comment on researching nuclear materials, nuclear engineering education, nuclear safety, and nuclear power/propulsion technology. You can contact him at e.obbard@unsw.edu.au

UNSW Science

• Kaarin Anstey, Professor, School of Psychology. Her research programs focus on cognitive and mental health resilience and the consequences and prevention of cognitive ageing and dementia. She also researches older driver safety, wellbeing, and evaluates interventions to promote mobility and healthy ageing. Reach her at k.anstey@unsw.edu.au. 

• Professor Veena Sahajwalla, Director of the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre and the inventor of polymer injection technology, known as Green SteelTM, an eco-friendly process for using recycled tyres and other wastes in steel production. Veena was also named the 2022 NSW Australian of the Year. Veena is available to discuss recycling science, industry collaboration and sustainability for materials. She can be reached via s.snell@unsw.edu.au. 

• Associate Professor Donna Green, Chief Investigator of the Digital Grid Futures Institute, UNSW Sydney. Donna is available to comment on the Federal Budget and how it relates to our energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables. You can contact her at donna.green@unsw.edu.au.

UNSW Medicine 

• Scientia Professor Vlado Perkovic, Dean of Medicine and Health can comment on clinical trials and epidemiology, in preventing the progression of kidney disease and its complications. He is a Professorial Fellow at The George Institute, Australia, and a Staff Specialist in Nephrology at the Royal North Shore Hospital. He is available on 0403 395 935 and vlado.perkovic@unsw.edu.au

• Tuly Rosenfeld, Associate Professor, School of Medicine and the School of Public Health & Community, can comment on aged care; dementia and capacity; elder abuse – financial and care; residential care; community care services – aged care at home; rehabilitative and safety issues in aged care at home. They are available via t.rosenfeld@unsw.edu.au. 

• Dr Uday Narayan Yadav, School of Population Health, can comment on primary health care and chronic disease. They are available via 0405846602 or u.yadav@unsw.edu.au. 

• Dr Blake Angell, UNSW Medicine & Health and the George Institute For Global Health can comment on health economic issues, including health expenditure, Medicare and state/Commonwealth health agreements. They are available at bangell@georgeinstitute.org.au.

UNSW Arts, Design and Architecture 

• Professor Hal Pawson, Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, can comment on funding for affordable housing, housing affordability and first homebuyer assistance. He can be reached at 0421 335 628 or h.pawson@unsw.edu.au. Phone business hours. Email after hours. 

• Bruce Bradbury, Associate Professor at the Social Policy Research Centre, can comment on living standards, cost of living, poverty, inequality, unemployment, and welfare. He can be reached at 0425222052 or b.bradbury@unsw.edu.au. Phone business hours. Email after hours. 

• Mark Diesendorf, Honorary Associate Professor, School of Humanities & Languages, can comment on the transition from fossil fuels, climate policy and the transition to electric cars. He can be reached at 0402940892 or m.diesendorf@unsw.edu.au. Phone business hours. Email after hours. 

UNSW Defence Research Institute

• Vice Admiral Paul Maddison, Director of the UNSW Defence Research Institute, can comment on defence research, defence policy, defence capability, and geopolitics. He performed military service for more than 37 years, including as a Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, and is also a former High Commissioner of Canada to Australia. You can contact him on 0400 439 792 and paul.maddison@dri.unsw.edu.au

For any further information, please reach out to Victoria Ticha at v.ticha@unsw.edu.au.