Ian Macfarlane AC
External Adviser
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Ian Macfarlane AC is a distinguished Australian economist, central banker, and author of two books. After an early career as an economist in Melbourne and Sydney, Ian travelled to Europe to work at the Institute of Economics and Statistics at the University of Oxford. Following this, he then moved to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
He returned to Australia and joined the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1979 and was appointed RBA Governor from 1996 to 2006. Ian has been widely recognised for his achievements as a central banker, particularly his stewardship of the RBA through the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
After retiring from the RBA, Ian was appointed as a director of three public companies - Woolworths Limited, Leighton Holdings and ANZ Bank. He was also on the International Advisory Boards of Goldman Sachs and the China Banking Regulatory Commission. He continued to be a Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy until 2017.
Ian has also gone on to author two books, The Search for Stability and Ten Remarkable Australians: they made their mark on the world but were forgotten.
He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia “for service to the stabilisation of the Australian financial system, central banking, and the operation of monetary and economic policy both in domestic and international spheres.”
He returned to Australia and joined the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1979 and was appointed RBA Governor from 1996 to 2006. Ian has been widely recognised for his achievements as a central banker, particularly his stewardship of the RBA through the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
After retiring from the RBA, Ian was appointed as a director of three public companies - Woolworths Limited, Leighton Holdings and ANZ Bank. He was also on the International Advisory Boards of Goldman Sachs and the China Banking Regulatory Commission. He continued to be a Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy until 2017.
Ian has also gone on to author two books, The Search for Stability and Ten Remarkable Australians: they made their mark on the world but were forgotten.
He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia “for service to the stabilisation of the Australian financial system, central banking, and the operation of monetary and economic policy both in domestic and international spheres.”
Qualifications
- BEc (Hons), MEc, Monash University
- Honorary degrees: DSc, University of Sydney
- DLitt, Macquarie University
- DCom, University of Melbourne
- DSC, University of New South Wales
- LLD, Monash University
Qualifications
- BEc (Hons), MEc, Monash University
- Honorary degrees: DSc, University of Sydney
- DLitt, Macquarie University
- DCom, University of Melbourne
- DSC, University of New South Wales
- LLD, Monash University