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Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb

Chair ACCC, Gina Cass-Gottlieb

Gina Cass-Gottlieb commenced her 5-year appointment as Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on 21 March 2022.

Before she joined the ACCC Gina was a senior and founding partner of Gilbert and Tobin’s competition and regulation team. Gina has over 25 years' experience advising on a large number of merger, competition and regulatory matters in Australia and New Zealand. She is widely recognised as one of Australia’s leading competition and regulatory experts.

Gina was appointed by the Commonwealth Treasurer to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Payments System Board in 2013. She was re-appointed in 2018 and again in 2023 for a further 5 year term. The Payments System Board is the regulator of access to payment systems. Gina was appointed to the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority in September 2021. For 10 years Gina was a director on the board of the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation.

Gina has received numerous accolades from Chambers Asia Pacific, Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Who’s Who Legal, Lawyers Weekly Awards, Beaton Client Choice Awards and Best Lawyers Australia, for her competition and legal expertise.

Gina holds Bachelor of Economics and Laws degrees from the University of Sydney. Gina was a Fulbright Scholar at UC Berkeley from 1986 to 1987, majoring in US competition law, constitutional law, financial institutions regulation and securities regulation.

Gina is the first female Chair of the ACCC since it was established as an independent statutory authority in 1995.

Deputy Chair Mick Keogh

Deputy Chair ACCC, Mick Keogh

Mick Keogh was appointed to the ACCC in February 2016, and then as Deputy Chair of the ACCC in 2018, with responsibility for Small Business and Agriculture. He was reappointed in May 2023.

Mick has a long and diverse history of involvement with the small business and agriculture sector, including periods of employment as a business consultant, and in advocacy and advisory roles to policymakers and governments. He has also chaired a number of Commonwealth Government inquiries and Ministerial advisory boards. He is currently a member of the Commonwealth Government’s Emission Reduction Assurance Council, and a Board member of the Food Agility Co-operative Research Centre.

From 2003 to 2018, he was Executive Director of the Australian Farm Institute, an independent policy research institute that conducted research into strategic policy issues of importance to Australian agriculture and regional Australia. Mick continued in that role until his appointment as Deputy Chair of the ACCC in June 2018.

Mick chairs the Water and Agriculture Board and Competition Exemptions Committee, and is a member of the Enforcement, Compliance and Product Safety, and Mergers Review Committees, and Electricity Markets Inquiry and East Coast Gas Market Boards. Mick's role also includes oversight of the small business, franchising and agriculture units of the ACCC.

Mick was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2015. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science, both obtained at the University of New South Wales, and a Doctor of Applied Science (honoris causa) from Charles Sturt University.

Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe

Catriona Lowe - profile image

Catriona Lowe was appointed by the Governor General to the position of ACCC Deputy Chair for a 5-year term on 27 January 2023. On 19 June 2023 Catriona commenced as an Associate Member of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Catriona chairs the Compliance and Product Safety Committee, and is a member of the Competition Exemptions, Consumer Data Right and Enforcement Committees and the Digital Platforms, Financial Services Inquiry, Child Care Inquiry, Electricity Markets Inquiry and East Coast Gas Market Boards.

For over 20 years Catriona has had a strong commitment to consumer issues and protection of consumer rights in her varied roles as a regulator, litigator and consumer advocate.

Before joining the ACCC, Catriona was a Board Member of the Australian Energy Regulator from February 2020. She has also held a non-Executive director role on a range of boards, including the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. Catriona was also principal of a consumer-focused consulting practice.

From 2006 to 2013, Catriona was Co-CEO of the Consumer Action Law Centre. She has also held senior roles with the Consumers’ Federation of Australia and the ACCC.

Over the years Catriona has worked extensively on matters involving consumer focused regulation, behavioural economics and effective enforcement and compliance. She has advocated for consumers across a range of markets including financial services, telecommunications and energy.

Catriona has a Bachelor of Laws from Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University).

Commissioner Anna Brakey

Anna Brakey

Anna Brakey was appointed a Commissioner of the ACCC in December 2020. She is also an Associate Member of the Australian Communications and Media Authority. On 1 March 2022 Anna commenced as an Associate Member of the New Zealand Commerce Commission.

Anna has extensive experience in regulatory economics and public policy with over 25 years of experience working with regulators, government and within the private sector. She has had broad exposure to a wide range of infrastructure industries, including energy, water and transport. Additionally, she has worked on economic reform to social policy.

Prior to starting at ACCC, Anna worked as an economist at Frontier Economics and held a number of roles at the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), including being a deputy Tribunal Member, the Executive Director of Strategy and Economic Analysis and the Chief Operating Officer. Anna’s expertise includes the Parliamentary Committee process, the New South Wales Department of Transport, the Australian Productivity Commission, the Bureau of Industry Economics and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Additionally, Anna has worked for the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) on reforms to economic regulation and with the New South Wales Treasury on the sale of assets.

Anna chairs the ACCC’s Infrastructure Committee, Communications Committee, Electricity Markets Inquiry Board and East Coast Gas Market Board and is a member of the ACCC’s Competition Exemptions Committee and Water and Agriculture Board.

Anna holds a Bachelor of Economics from Australian National University and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment from Securities Institute of Australia. She is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Commissioner Liza Carver

Liza Carver

Liza Carver commenced her role as Commissioner on 1 March 2022. Liza brings a wealth of experience from her career as a lawyer, including from her former role as Partner of Herbert Smith Freehills. Liza is widely recognised as one of Australia’s leading competition law and regulatory specialists.

Liza was also a non-executive Director of the NSW Rail Access Corporation, RailCorp and AirServices Australia.

In addition to her experience in private practice, Liza was an Associate Commissioner with the Trade Practices Commission and the ACCC between 1993 and 1999. Liza was also a Commissioner with the Australian Energy Markets Commission between 2005 and 2008.

Liza’s combined experience from her time in private practice and working at the ACCC and the Australian Energy Markets Commission, has provided her with a strong insight into competition law.

Liza chairs the ACCC’s Enforcement Committee, is the Deputy Chair of the Competition Exemptions Committee, Communications Committee, Infrastructure Committee and Mergers Review Committee, and is a member of the Compliance and Product Safety Committee, Digital Platforms Board, Electricity Markets Inquiry Board, East Coast Gas Market Board and Serious Cartels Program Board.

Liza holds degrees in Economics, Law and a Master of Laws from University of Sydney.

Commissioner Peter Crone

Peter Crone

Peter Crone was appointed a Commissioner of the ACCC in December 2020.

Peter has more than 30 years of experience in economic policy and commercial strategy at the highest levels of government and business in Australia. He has served as an adviser to state and federal governments, including as Senior Economic Advisor to Australia’s Prime Minister from 1997 to 2006, and filled chief economist roles at the Business Council of Australia, Ernst and Young, and Coles Group.

Peter has also been a commercial adviser to a number of superannuation funds on infrastructure investments, and commenced his career at the Commonwealth Treasury as a policy adviser and research economist.

Peter brings deep experience in assessing and explaining economic and regulatory trends at play across markets and industries. His broad experience reflects the economy-wide remit of the ACCC.

Peter chairs the ACCC’s Consumer Data Right Committee and Child Care Inquiry Board and is a member of the Mergers Review Committee, as well as the Digital Platforms, Financial Services Inquiry, Electricity Markets Inquiry and East Coast Gas Market Boards.

Peter holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Western Australia. He is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Commissioner Stephen Ridgeway

Commissioner ACCC, Stephen Ridgeway

Stephen Ridgeway was appointed a Commissioner of the ACCC in June 2019.

Stephen brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles as a lawyer in the private and public sectors. He is widely recognised as one of Australia’s leading competition and consumer lawyers and an expert in the field. In 2018 Stephen retired as a senior partner at King & Wood Mallesons.

Early in his career, Stephen acted for the ACCC and its predecessor, the Trade Practices Commission, in enforcement litigation as a senior lawyer with the Australian Government Solicitor. After joining private practice in 1998, Stephen had extensive involvement in merger clearance applications in a wide variety of industries. He also had extensive experience in regulatory enforcement actions, including a number of landmark ACCC enforcement matters.

During 2011 and 2012 Stephen was National Chairman of the Competition and Consumer Committee of the Law Council of Australia, and led consultations with the ACCC and Treasury about policy and enforcement matters. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia from 2016 to 2018.

Stephen chairs the ACCC’s Mergers Review Committee, and is a member of the ACCC’s Enforcement Committee and Water and Agriculture Board. On 1 March 2022 Stephen also commenced an appointment as an Associate Member of the New Zealand Commerce Commission.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Laws from the Australian National University.

Images for download

High resolution images of the Chair, Deputy Chairs and Commissioners can be found in our image library.

Former Chairs and Commissioners

A list of former Chairs, Commissioners, and Deputy Chairs and Commissioners of the Trade Practices Commission, ACCC, and AER can be found on the Former Chairs & Commissioners page.

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