Grattan Institute announced its second major Program appointment today. Jane-Frances Kelly will take up the position of Program Director for Cities.
Grattan Institute is a new think tank aiming to shape the direction of debate on many of the important challenges facing Australia. It was set up with substantial support from the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments, The University of Melbourne and BHP Billiton.
John Daley, CEO of Grattan Institute, commented that, “Over two thirds of Australians live in major cities. Growing city populations are straining the capacity of our transport, utility, and social infrastructure. There is also increasing understanding that urban design makes a difference to the quality of social interactions, economic productivity and sustainable energy choices. We hope that work on these areas, as well as on metropolitan governance arrangements, will contribute to cities that work better for the people who live in them.”
Jane-Frances Kelly has an outstanding reputation as one of Australia’s leading policy thinkers. She has led work on strategy and prioritisation for the Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Departments of Premier and Cabinet in Queensland, Victoria and NSW, the UK Cabinet Office, and the Boston Consulting Group. She has been a senior strategic adviser for Noel Pearson at the Cape York Institute, and Christine Nixon at Victoria Police.
“This experience fits Jane-Frances well for the complex task of bringing together a team across a number of disciplines required for public policy recommendations about the future of our cities,” John Daley added.
“Jane-Frances’ appointment is one of a suite of similar announcements being made over the next couple of months. “Grattan Institute is engaging Australia’s best strategic and public policy thinkers to conduct independent, rigorous fact-based analysis on the issues that will make a difference to Australian society in the areas of Productivity, Cities, Energy, Water and Education,” he concluded.