Jobs and Skills Australia Interim Director announced

Professor Peter Dawkins AO has been announced as the Interim Director of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA).  

JSA was established by the Australian Government as a statutory body to provide independent advice on current, emerging, and future workforce, skills, and training needs. 

Peter brings a wealth of experience to the position. He is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Mitchell Institute for Education and Health Policy at Victoria University, where he was the Vice-Chancellor and President from 2011 until 2020. For six years (2005-2010), he was a senior public servant in Victoria, as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Treasury and Finance, and Secretary of the Education Department. Before that he was the Ronald Henderson Professor of Applied Economic and Social Research, and Director of the Melbourne Institute at the University of Melbourne from 1996 to 2005. 

Peter holds a B.Sc. (Hons) and Ph.D. from Loughborough University and a M.Sc. (Econ) from the University of London and has held various university teaching, research and leadership roles at Loughborough University (1976-84), Flinders University (1984-87), Murdoch University (1987-1990), Curtin University (1990-1995) where he was Curtin’s first Professor of Economics, the University of Melbourne (1996-2005) and Victoria University (since 2011). 

His central area of expertise as an economist is in labour market economics. His policy research and advice has been especially focussed on labour markets, education and training, taxes and transfers, innovation and enterprise dynamics.  

JSA welcomes Professor Dawkins to the role.