Jennifer Westacott holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of New South Wales and was a Chevening Scholar at the London School of Economics.
She is chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, the leading forum for the heads of Australia's top 100 companies to contribute to public policy debate. Prior to that, she was a board director and lead partner at KPMG, heading its Sustainability, Climate Change and Water practice, and its NSW State Government practice.
Ms Westacott has extensive experience in critical leadership positions in the NSW and Victorian Governments. She is an Adjunct Professor at the City Research Futures Centre of the University of NSW, chair of the Mental Health Council of Australia, and a member of the Prime Minister’s Cyber Security Review Panel and the Prime Minister’s Expert Advisory Panel on the Reform of the Federation.
Ms Westacott is a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, a Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors, a recipient of the Centenary Medal in 2003, and a finalist for the Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 1998.
