External activities disclosure

Grattan Institute’s mandate is to be independent, rigorous, and practical. An important aspect of our governance is to ensure that the external activities of our staff avoid conflicts of interest or reputational concerns while also supporting their aspirations to participate in the broader community and the value of them doing so.

Our staff are required to disclose, and to have approval, to undertake any paid or unpaid external activities. This information is published on our website to maintain transparency with our stakeholders and the broader community. Disclosure includes approved current, and recent past, external activities of current Grattan staff.

Permission is granted on a case-by-case basis. As always, common sense, sound judgment, mutual trust and integrity are applied in these matters.

A sub-committee of our Board, comprising Mr Lindsay Maxsted (Chairman), Mr Ian Marshman (Director) and Dr Aruna Sathanapally (CEO) determines permissions.

Approved external activities

Aruna Sathanapally

Member, CEO Advisory Committee
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Ongoing
Paid (payments to Grattan Institute)

Member, Panel of Expert Advisors
Parliamentary Budget Office
3 years
Unpaid

Member, Expert Subcommittee
Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration
21 months
Paid (payments to Grattan Institute)

Member, Expert Reference Group
UTS Human Technology Institute – AI Policy and Regulation Expert Reference Group
2 years
Paid (payments to Grattan Institute)

Peter Breadon

Member, Partner Advisory Board
Australian Primary Care Nurses Association Workforce Survey
5 years
Unpaid

Member, Strategic Reference Group
Department of Health and Aged Care (C’th) – National Immunisation Strategy
3 years
Unpaid

Member, Advisory Board
Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University
2 years
Unpaid

Member, Expert Panel
Department of Health and Aged Care (C’th) – Primary Care and Workforce Reviews Taskforce
12 months
Unpaid

Member, Expert Advisory Group
Susan McKinnon Foundation – Centre for Comparative Federalism pilot program
10 months
Paid (payments to Grattan Institute)

Member, Advisory Board
Food for Health Alliance
8 months
Unpaid

Brendan Coates

Member, Research Committee
Prosper Australia Research Institute
Ongoing
Unpaid

Member, Research Committee
Super Consumers Australia
Ongoing
Unpaid

Board Member
Super Consumers Australia
3 years
Unpaid

Member, Advisory Committee
Housing Advisory Committee for Sen. A. Bragg
3 years
Unpaid

Board Member
YIMBY Melbourne
2 years
Unpaid

Member, Expert Subcommittee
Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration
17 months (now finished)
Paid (payments to Grattan Institute)

Alison Reeve

Member, Energy Advisory Group
CSIRO
3 years
Unpaid

Member, Advisory Panel
National Hydrogen Strategy
Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment & Water (C’th)
5 months (now finished)
Unpaid

Member, Reference Group
Energy Strategy International Reference Group
New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
14 months (now finished)
Paid (payments to Grattan Institute)

Panel Facilitator
Friends of Manuka Pool
One-off event (now finished)
Unpaid

Matthew Bowes

Volunteer; Deputy Convenor
Greater Canberra
2 months (now finished)
Unpaid

Owain Emslie

Consulting Insurance Analyst
Pacific Indemnity Underwriting Solutions
Ongoing
Paid

Amy Haywood

Member, Monitoring Group
Tasmanian Government – Lifting Literacy Outcomes Monitoring Group
3 years
Paid

Alastair McEwin

Member, Stakeholder Council
Australia Post
3 years
Unpaid

Professor of Practice in Disability
University of NSW, Division of Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement
2 years
Paid

Board Member
The Achieve Foundation
2 years
Unpaid

Chairperson, Advisory Committee
Centre for Inclusive Employment – Swinburne University of Technology
1 year
Paid

Member, Advisory Group
Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence (South Australia)
9 months (now finished)
Paid

Independent Consultant
nib Thrive
6 months (now finished)
Paid

Tony Wood

Member, Advisory Board
Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine
2 years
Unpaid

Member, Advisory Board
Melbourne Energy Institute
Ongoing
Unpaid

Chair, Diesel replacement report steering Committee
Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
4 months
Unpaid

Board Member
Heavy Industry Low-Carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre
Ongoing
Paid (payments to Grattan Institute)

Paul Austin

Private media, communications, and editing advisor; Director
Cafagna Communications Pty Ltd
Ongoing
Paid

Jenny Green

Self-employed Hatha Yoga teacher
Ongoing
Paid

Alan MacKinnon

Self-employed registered Tax Agent and public practice Accountant
Ongoing
Paid

Last updated: 26 March 2026