Advisory Board

Rhonda Sharp

Rhonda Sharp is an Emeritus Professor at the University of South Australia. She was formerly a Research Chair and Professor of Economics at the Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia. Her work on gender, and government policies and budgets began in the mid 1980s when she developed the framework for Australia’s first state government level ‘gender -responsive budget’ initiative in South Australia. Over the past 25 years she has furthered her work of integrating a gender perspective into economic and social policies through research and writing and working with governments, NGOS and international organizations. She served as a member of the UN Expert Group, Financing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and co-author of its report. She is a member of the gender panel of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and has held board appointments on state government authorities in areas of transport, superannuation and social justice. In 2003, Professor Sharp was awarded the Centenary Federation Medal by the Australian Government for services to education and society.

Susan Himmelweit

Susan Himmelweit is an Emeritus Professor of Economics at The Open University. Her interests are in the economics of the household, the economics of caring, feminist economics and the gender implications of economic policy. She is a member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s advisory group on “Working Better” and the Fatherhood Institute’s Reference Group for its “The Fairness in Families Index”. She is a past president of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE), an Associate editor of its journal Feminist Economics and on the editorial board of the journal Women, Politics and Policy. She is a past chair and current coordinator of the Policy Advisory Group of the Women’s Budget Group and a member of its management committee.

Alison Preston

Alison Preston is a Professor of Economics at the University of Western Australia. Her research work has largely focused on the topic of wage determination, including the role of minimum wages, women’s pay, the earnings of part-timers and the determinants of the gender pay gap. Other research interests include retirement incomes polices and financial literacy. She is currently an editorial board member with the UK based Industrial Relations Journal. She has held government appointments on State advisory boards and prior to entering academia was a senior public servant in Canberra.