APPEA 2025 Conference and Exhibition

Helen Mitchell is an economist and former diplomat, most recently one of a senior cadre of experts providing strategic advice to the Prime Minister and rest of government.

She is a Sir Roland Wilson Scholar at the Australian National University doing targeted research to help solve national policy challenges. Her integrated research explores economic security and statecraft in a new global order – one in which Australia faces sharper trade-offs between sovereignty, security and prosperity.

Helen is also an Economic Security Non-Resident Fellow at the US Studies Centre where she has published an Economic Security report for Australian policymakers.

Previously, Helen advised the Australian Government on economic security issues at the Commonwealth Treasury. She is a published economist and she served Australia in diplomatic positions in New York, South Africa and Mexico.

Helen holds a first class honours degree in Economics and an Arts degree from the University of Melbourne. She recently completed Leadership training at the Harvard Business School. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese.

You can hear Helen speaking about her research topics on the ANU’s National Security College podcast: A New Age of Economic Statecraft and How the Global Economy is Reshaping International Security.

Publications

Mitchell, Helen, Unlocking Economic Security: A strategic playbook for Australia, United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, February 2024. Available at https://www.ussc.edu.au/unlocking-economic-security-a-strategic-playbook-for-australia

Mitchell, Helen, A Modern Economic Statecraft Framework (August 22, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4548008

Mixing the carrots with the sticks: third party punishment and reward; Nikiforakis, Nikos; Mitchell, Helen. Experimental Economics 17, 1–23 (2014). https://doi-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/10.1007/s10683-013-9354-z

Equality, well-being and the work of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission; McDonald, Ian; Mitchell, Helen. Insights: Melbourne Business and Economics Vol. 8 (November 2010). https://issuu.com/business-economics/docs/insights_volume_8_november_2010

Presentation details

Plenary 4 Keynote Panel: Energy Superpower | Australia’s role in the region
Thursday 23 May 2024
8:30am – 10:15am