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Deborah Brennan

Associate Commissioner

Professor Deborah Brennan AM was appointed as an Associate Commissioner with the Productivity Commission in February 2023 to work on the Early Childhood Education and Care inquiry.

Deborah Brennan BA Syd., MA Macq., PhD Syd., FASSA, is one of Australia’s leading researchers in comparative welfare, family policy and gender and politics. Deborah is Professor Emerita at the Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW and has held visiting positions at the London School of Economics, Oxford University and Trinity College Dublin.

She has published extensively on early childhood education and care policy, gender and public policy, care and migration and the impact of marketisation on human services. Her publications include The Politics of Australian Child Care: From Philanthropy to Feminism, Cambridge University Press, 1994; and “No Fit Place for Women”? Women in New South Wales Politics, 1856-2006, (with Louise Chappell), 2006. She has been commissioned to write reports for numerous government agencies and community organisations. In 2018, she published Lifting our Game. Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools through Early Childhood Interventions, a report commissioned by all State and Territory governments and co-authored with Susan Pascoe.

Deborah has served on a range of government committees and advisory bodies. She was also the Inaugural Convenor of the National Association of Community Based Children’s Services (1982-1986) and has served on the boards of various research and community organisations, including the Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University (2009-2020) and the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) (1996-2000).

Deborah Brennan

Deborah Brennan
Associate Commissioner