Reference Group

Delia Rickard was appointed to the position of Deputy Chair of the ACCC in June 2012 for a period of five years and reappointed for a further five years in July 2017. She is also an Associate Member of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Delia sits on the ACCC’s enforcement, adjudication, communications and strategic compliance committees. She also chairs the ACCC’s market study into the cost of insurance in Northern Australia and is a member of the board for a number of other ACCC market studies.

Outside work she is a trustee of the Jan Pentland Foundation, an organisation dedicated to providing scholarships for those who want to work as financial counsellors, and a director of Fairtrade Australia New Zealand. She is also the Chair of Good Shepherd’s Advisory Committee on Financial Inclusion Action Plans.

Delia was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2011 for her contribution to consumer protection and financial services. She has also been awarded the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals Lifetime Achievement Award. She holds bachelor’s degrees in law and arts from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Manisha Amin is an innovation leader and a cultural and social change champion, focused on helping organisations harness the power of thinking from the edge. She is CEO of the Centre for Inclusive Design, a social enterprise which helps companies to build and design products, services and policies that are inclusive, valuable and usable for as many people as possible.

CFID’s research demonstrates that products and services designed with unique needs in mind can reach four times the size of the target audience, significantly impacting the bottom line.

Currently, millions of Australians across the country are unable to access products and services because of poor design. Manisha and her team provide simple solutions that allow everyone the opportunity to participate in economic, social, civil, political and cultural life.

Prior to joining CFID, Manisha worked in innovation, design, environmental advocacy and non-profits including Barnardos, Cancer Council, Guide Dogs Australia. She is passionate about social justice and business growth, and believes that when we combine the two we get gold.

She has a PhD in Arts and Social Science, a Masters in Professional Writing, and a Bachelor of Business (Marketing), from the University of Technology, Sydney. Manisha is also on the Board of ADHD Australia and is a published novelist.

Kate was appointed full-time commissioner and chairperson of the Essential Services Commission in September 2019, after being a part-time commissioner since October 2016. As a lawyer with qualifications in public administration and corporate governance, Kate has experience across a number of sectors.

Kate has particular expertise in risk, compliance and governance issues. She acted as solicitor-assisting for the HIH Insurance Royal Commission, has held roles within the university sector and the Federal Court of Australia, and has worked in private practice both in Australia and overseas.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Adelaide and a Master of Public Administration from Flinders University.

A senior regulatory and consumer leader with significant experience across different markets and countries, and with regulators, regulated businesses, government agencies and advocacy organisations.

Expertise and a record of impact and innovation in economic and consumer-centred regulation, consumer protection, policy development, stakeholder engagement, organisation design, and corporate strategy & governance.

Margery is currently Banking Code and Vulnerable Customer Lead at ANZ. Previously, she held roles with Financial Ombudsman Service Australia, Consumer Action Law Centre and DLA Piper. She holds a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the University of Melbourne.

Drew MacRae has worked in policy development and advocacy for close to 20 years. Prior to his work in the financial services sector, Drew worked in film, television and media sector policy focussing on the rights of actors, directors, journalists, and local technicians and crew, as well as support for local content rules. Drew has also worked as a journalist for outlets such as ABC TV’s Media Watch and TV Week.

At the Financial Rights Legal Centre Drew has focussed on insurance policy issues including researching and drafting the Guilty Until Proven Innocent Report into insurance investigations, and drafting submissions and advocating on both the General and Life Insurance Codes of Practice. He has also worked in credit and debt space, including the Banking Code of Practice, Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry and more recently, the implementation of open banking and the Consumer Data Right.

Drew has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of NSW and a Bachelor of Arts (Mass Communications) from Macquarie University.

Gavin is currently employed as the manager of policy and research at St Vincent de Paul Society, Victoria. Gavin’s has been as a consumer representative in the community welfare sector for over 30 years. He has undertaken research electricity disconnections, documented changes in energy pricing and its impacts on households been involved the development of the energy consumer protection and concession frameworks. In addition Gavin also has undertaken research into the provision of emergency relief and changes in cost cost pressures and the impact on households. He was awarded a Centenary medal for services to the community in 2001.