Michele Bullock (born 1962/1963) is an Australian economist who is currently governor of the

Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. Th ...

(RBA). She commenced as governor on 18 September 2023, and is the first woman to hold the role.

Early life, personal life and education

Bullock was born in 1962 or 1963 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. At approximately nine years of age, she moved to

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, where she attended

Armidale High School Armidale High School was a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Comprehensive education, comprehensive secondary school, secondary day school, located in Armidale, a College town, universi ...

. After initially being accepted into medical study at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

, she switched to economics, graduating from the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students See also * New England Coll ...

(UNE) with a

Bachelor of Economics A Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon)Bureau of Labor StatisticsHow to Become an Economist/ref> is an academic degree, awarded to students who have completed specialised undergraduate studies in economics. Variants include the "Bachelor of Econo ...

with honours in 1984. She has also studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, graduating with a Master of Science in 1989. She has two children.

Career

In her honours year at UNE, Bullock completed an internship at the RBA, following which she began employment at the bank. Since then, she has been continuously employed by the RBA, holding various roles. Notably, she was an assistant governor for three areas from 2010 to 2022, holding responsibility for currency from 2010 to 2015, business services from 2015 to 2016 and the financial system from 2016 to 2022, before being appointed deputy governor succeeding Guy Debelle in April 2022. She was the first woman to become deputy governor. On 14 July 2023, she was announced as

Philip Lowe Philip Lowe (born 4 October 1961) is an Australian economist and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, from September 2016 to September 2023. He was also deputy governor under Glenn Stevens from February 2012 to September 2016. E ...

's successor as governor of the RBA, commencing on 18 September that year. She is the ninth governor and the first woman to hold the position. She described it as "a challenging time to be coming into this role," and the ''

Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

'' particularly noted the difficulties presented by the implementation of the "wholesale reforms" recommended by a recently released public review of the RBA's operations. As part of the reforms, she faces the media significantly more often than her predecessors, holding at least eight press conferences a year in comparison to Lowe's total of four across his seven-year tenure. Her appointment received a mixed public reception. Independent economist Nicki Hutley praised her as "an exceptional economist ... an excellent candidate and well qualified", while

Centre for Independent Studies The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) is an Australian think tank founded in 1976 by Greg Lindsay. The CIS specialises in public policy research and publishes material in areas such as economics, education, culture and foreign policy. Alth ...

chief economist Peter Tulip raised concerns about her extensive RBA experience, suggesting that, " you want a big change in the RBA culture, the way the review panel recommends, then someone who's thrived under the old culture doesn't seem a natural choice to implement that agenda."

References

External links

Michele Bullock's profile
on the Reserve Bank of Australia website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullock, Michele 1960s births Living people Australian women economists Australian bankers University of New England (Australia) alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics People from Armidale Governors of the Reserve Bank of Australia