Michele Bullock hopes communication will help lift RBA’s standing

The new RBA Governor hopes people will look back on her time in the role and appreciate where she was coming from, even if they didn’t agree.

Michele Bullock is the highest-ranked debutant in The Daily Telegraph’s Sydney Power 100 rankings for 2024.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph for the rankings, which will be published in full on Thursday, the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor explained how she hopes to lift the public standing of the central bank through better communication.

Ms Bullock told The Telegraph she never considered the possibility of leading the RBA until Guy Debelle quit as her predecessor Philip Lowe’s deputy in 2022 to take a job with billionaire Andrew Forrest.

RBA Governor, Michele Bullock has made her debut in The Daily Telegraph’s Sydney Power 100 rankings. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

She became Dr Lowe’s deputy then took his job in September last year after he got the punt for reasons including his failure to clearly explain the bank’s thinking and actions.

Ms Bullock’s plain-speaking has been a hallmark of her time in the job so far.

She said that after her time at the RBA is up, “I would like people to look back and say, ‘I didn’t necessarily agree, but I understand where they’re coming from. They’ve communicated clearly and I understand them and I respect that’.”

Michele Bullock took over the top job in September 2023. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Bullock has spent her entire working life at the RBA – nearly 40 years – after interning at the bank while doing honours in economics.

Upon finishing school, Bullock was accepted into a medicine degree in Sydney but switched and stayed in Armidale where she grew up.

Bullock is the first woman to be governor. She said the RBA wants to get more women into the bank.

“We’ve got a pipeline problem because women aren’t tending to study economics,” she said. Only a third of high-school economics students are girls and just 37 per cent of those enrolled in economics at university are women.

There are more women than ever in the Sydney Power 100 rankings.

Originally published as Michele Bullock hopes communication will help lift RBA’s standing