Commissioners
On advice from the Federal Executive Council and under the Commonwealth Grants Commission Act 1973, the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia has appointed a Chair and three Members.
Chairperson
Mr Michael Callaghan AM PSM
Mr Michael Callaghan was appointed to a 5-year term as Commission Chairperson on 25 June 2020 and was reappointed for a further 5-year term on 25 June 2025.
Mr Callaghan has a long career in public policy, including 38 years in the Commonwealth Department of the Treasury. From 2008 to 2012 he was Deputy Secretary, Macroeconomic Group, Australia’s G20 Finance Deputy and the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy, International Economy. From 2005 to 2007, he was Deputy Secretary, Revenue Group.
Mr Callaghan spent 4 years on the IMF Executive Board in Washington DC and served as Chief of Staff to the Australian Treasurer, the Hon Peter Costello AC.
He has chaired reviews for the Australian Government and international organisations. In 2020, Mr Callaghan chaired the Retirement Income Review. In 2017, he chaired the review of the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax and the review of the Economic Impact of the Government’s Regulation Agenda. He also chaired the Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce. Mr Callaghan chaired the 12th and 13th replenishment of the Asian Development Bank’s Asian Development Fund.
From 2018 to 2020 he was Chair of the Aged Care Financing Authority. From 2013 to 2014, he was Director of the G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute and was a non-resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He served on the Board of the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation from 2017 to 2019.
Mr Callaghan is a Member of the Order of Australia and has been awarded the Public Service Medal and Centenary Medal. He has economics and law degrees from the Australian National University and is a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies in London and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Current term: 25 June 2025 to 24 June 2030
Members
Dr Lynne Williams AM
Dr Lynne Williams was first appointed as a Commission Member on 1 September 2016 and was reappointed for a further 5-year term on 1 September 2021.
Dr Williams has worked as an economist in the public sector for over 30 years, where she held senior executive positions in both the Victorian and Commonwealth public services. In the Victorian public service, Dr Williams held senior executive positions in the Department of Treasury and Finance, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development. In the Commonwealth public service, Dr Williams held senior executive positions at the Productivity Commission, the Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research, and the Bureau of Labour Market Research.
Dr Williams has since been a non-executive director and Commissioner on several Commonwealth and state government bodies, and has undertaken several consultancies.
Dr Williams has degrees in economics from the University of Melbourne, the London School of Economics and Monash University. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA), a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and Chair of the board of St Hilda’s College (University of Melbourne), where she is also a Fellow.
Dr Williams was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2017 for her contributions to economic and public policy and received the University of Melbourne Faculty of Business and Economics Alumni of Distinction Faculty Award in 2019.
Current term: 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2026
Professor Anne Tiernan
Professor Anne Tiernan was appointed to a 5-year term as a Commission Member on 1 September 2022.
Professor Tiernan is an Adjunct Professor of Politics at Griffith University. A political scientist whose career spans higher education, federal and state government, consultancy and teaching, Professor Tiernan’s research focuses on the work of governing and learning in a political context. She has written extensively on the political–administrative interface, governmental transitions, policy capacity and executive advisory arrangements – particularly the support needs of ministers, the role of the public service, intergovernmental coordination and public policy agenda-setting. She has published extensively in Australia and internationally.
Professor Tiernan is a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, and a Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and has held a range of Board appointments.
Current term: 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2027