Michele Bullock

Michele Bullock is an Australian economist and central banker who became Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on 18 September 2023. As Governor, she leads the central bank and chairs its Monetary Policy, Payments System and Governance boards, as well as the Council of Financial Regulators. Her career at the RBA has included senior roles in economics, payments, currency and financial-system policy. ^[1][2]

Background and education

Bullock studied economics at the University of New England, graduating with a Bachelor of Economics with Honours in 1984. She completed a Master of Science in Economics at the London School of Economics in 1989. The RBA’s biography records that she joined the Bank in 1985 and worked in its Economic Group and International Department before moving into payments policy. ^[1]

The RBA’s published career summary describes a progression from specialist and management roles to executive leadership. Bullock became Chief Manager of the Payments Policy Department in 1998 and headed that department from 2007 to 2010. She then served as an adviser in the Currency Group and held three assistant-governor positions: Currency from 2010 to 2015, Business Services from 2015 to 2016, and Financial System from 2016 to 2022. She was Deputy Governor from 2022 until taking up the governorship in 2023. ^[1]

This sequence brought experience in areas that form part of the RBA’s broader responsibilities. Payments policy concerns the systems used to transfer money; currency responsibilities include Australia’s banknotes; and financial-system work includes monitoring and policy relating to the resilience and functioning of the financial system. Her former roles are part of her professional background, rather than separate appointments to the institutions that supervise every part of Australia’s financial sector. ^[1]

Appointment as Governor

On 14 July 2023, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced Bullock’s appointment as Governor for a seven-year term beginning on 18 September 2023. The announcement identified responsibilities associated with the office, including chairing the Reserve Bank Board, the Payments System Board and the Council of Financial Regulators, and managing the Bank under the Reserve Bank Act 1959. ^[2]

The RBA’s statutory appointments page lists her Governor appointment as beginning on 18 September 2023 and ending on 17 September 2030. It also records her chairmanship of the Monetary Policy Board from 1 March 2025, when the board structure changed under reforms to the RBA’s governance arrangements. ^[3] Board structures and assigned responsibilities are matters of institutional design; the Governor’s role should therefore be understood within the legal and governance arrangements in force at a given time.

Bullock was previously Deputy Governor and, before that, held a range of senior management roles at the Bank. She also served as Deputy Chair of the Reserve Bank Board from 2 April 2022. The RBA biography records that she was Chair of that board from the start of her governorship until 28 February 2025, after which the statutory appointments page identifies her as chair of the new Monetary Policy Board. ^[1][3]

Responsibilities and institutional role

The Governor’s office combines leadership of the central bank with chairing responsibilities across several bodies. In the RBA’s current biography, Bullock is listed as chair of the Governance, Monetary Policy and Payments System boards and the Council of Financial Regulators. ^[1] The RBA describes the Governor as responsible for the Bank’s management under the Reserve Bank Act. ^[2] These roles place the Governor at the centre of the Bank’s policy and operational work, while decisions and oversight remain subject to the relevant board and statutory arrangements.

The Monetary Policy Board is responsible for monetary-policy decisions. These decisions affect financial conditions in Australia, including the setting of the cash rate target, which influences borrowing and saving rates across the economy. The Governor chairs the board, but monetary policy is presented as a board decision rather than a personal policy choice of the Governor. In a 2024 parliamentary statement, Bullock described changes to the decision process, including a board-issued statement after decisions, regular media conferences by the Governor, and publication of the Statement on Monetary Policy at the same time as the decision. ^[4]

The Payments System Board concerns the safety, efficiency and competitiveness of payment systems. Bullock’s earlier career in the RBA’s payments policy and currency areas preceded her role as its chair. Her work on payments has included public remarks on modernising Australia’s payments system, as recorded in the RBA’s 2023 speech listings. ^[5] The Council of Financial Regulators brings together Australian financial authorities; the RBA’s biography lists Bullock as its chair. ^[1]

Monetary policy and public communication

As Governor, Bullock communicates the RBA’s assessment of economic conditions and the reasoning behind monetary-policy decisions. Her first speech as Governor, delivered in October 2023, addressed the framework for monetary policy and the relationships among price stability, full employment and financial stability. She described these objectives as capable of complementing one another, while noting that policymakers may at times need to weigh trade-offs. ^[6]

In that speech, Bullock discussed the RBA Board’s focus on returning inflation to target while maintaining employment growth. She also explained that the outlook and incoming economic information inform decisions, and that the Board considers the delayed effects of monetary policy. ^[6] These comments were made in the context of the economic conditions and cash-rate setting in October 2023; they should not be read as a statement of current policy settings.

Bullock’s public communication also takes place through parliamentary appearances. In February 2024, she described hearings before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics as part of the Bank’s accountability process. She discussed the revised meeting format, the Board’s communication of decisions and the publication of the Bank’s forecasts and assessment alongside policy announcements. ^[4] Such appearances allow parliamentarians to question the Governor and other RBA officials about the Bank’s actions and analysis.

The RBA’s published speeches and testimony records document her addresses and appearances in the role. Topics listed during her first year as Governor included monetary policy, the payments system, and participation in parliamentary hearings and public forums. ^[5] These materials are institutional records of the Governor’s public statements; they do not replace the formal statements of the relevant boards or the Bank’s published policy documents.

Career significance

Bullock’s appointment followed a long career within the RBA, including more than a year as Deputy Governor. The Bank’s official biography documents the breadth of her roles, from economic and international work to payments policy, currency, business services and financial-system responsibilities. ^[1] This makes her professional record relevant to understanding the experience she brought to the governorship, although a résumé alone does not determine the content of policy decisions made by the Board.

Her leadership period has coincided with changes to the RBA’s governance and communications arrangements. In 2024, Bullock described the move to a different board meeting schedule, board-issued decisions, regular media conferences, and simultaneous release of the Statement on Monetary Policy. ^[4] From March 2025, the RBA’s statutory appointments list identifies the Monetary Policy Board as a distinct body chaired by the Governor. ^[3] These developments provide institutional context for her role, but should be distinguished from personal policy preferences or individual control over board outcomes.

Related roles and affiliations

In addition to her RBA duties, the Bank’s biography records that Bullock co-chairs the Financial Stability Board’s Regional Consultative Group for Asia and serves on the Melbourne Institute Advisory Board. It also identifies her membership of Chief Executive Women and her status as a signatory to the Banking and Finance Oath. ^[1] These affiliations are distinct from her statutory positions at the RBA and do not change the formal responsibilities attached to the governorship.

Sources and scope

The main biographical and appointment details in this entry are drawn from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s official biography, appointment announcement, statutory appointments register, speech archive and parliamentary-statement materials. ^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} The entry focuses on public professional information and institutional responsibilities. It does not include personal details not needed to explain her finance-related role.