Elissa Freeman - Interim Chair
Elissa is an experienced consumer advocate, having represented the interests of consumers in the financial services, telecommunications, energy and water industries.
She is the CEO of the Financial Counselling Industry Fund. She is founder and coordinator of the Consumers’ Federation of Australia Mentoring Program, Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator Customer Consultative Group and a member of the AER’s Consumer Challenge Panel. Elissa was previously a Director of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, Financial Adviser Standards & Ethics Authority, Director of the Financial Ombudsman Service and chair of the Financial Rights Legal Centre.
Delia Rickard
Delia Rickard has extensive public service experience with Australia’s financial regulators.
She was Deputy Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) from 2012 until 2023 where she served on committees and boards dealing with consumer data rights, digital platforms, financial services, enforcement, energy, communications, exemptions, and corporate governance.
She also held various senior executive roles at the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) where she was involved in work on dispute resolution, banking, insurance, the introduction of Super Choice and financial capability. She also led the creation of www.moneysmart.gov.au.
Delia has been the recipient of many awards in recognition of her services to consumer protection, including the Australian Public Service medal, the SOCAP Lifetime Achievement award and the Inaugural Australian Law Council’s Australian Consumer Rights Award.
Brendan Coates
Brendan has extensive experience in economic policy and regularly appears in print and electronic media as a recognised expert commentator on issues such as housing affordability, tax reform, retirement incomes, superannuation, cities and budget policy.
Brendan has worked for the Grattan Institute for over 10 years, a public policy think tank based in Melbourne, Victoria, and was appointed as the Program Director for Housing and Economic Security in 2019. His research focuses on tax reform, economic and budget policy, retirement incomes and superannuation, workforce participation, housing and land use planning, and financial regulation.
Before Grattan, Brendan worked as a macro-financial economist with the World Bank in Indonesia and Latin America, and prior to that, undertook a number of roles over five years with the Australian Treasury.
Brendan holds a Masters of International Development Economics from the Australian National University and Bachelors of Commerce and Arts from the University of Melbourne.
