Our People
ITS Global has strong in-house technical expertise in trade and investment policy, economic reform, environmental policy, corporate strategy and development assistance. This is supported by an extensive network of associate consultants throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Associate consultants have specialist sectoral expertise and experience in agribusiness, econometrics, regulation, climate change and forestry.
Senior staff and associates have extensive experience working at executive levels of government, in the private sector and collaborating with intergovernmental organisations.
Principal & Senior Consultants
Alan Oxley is one of Australia's most authoritative advisers on international trade. He has an enormous depth and spread of experience, drawing on more than 25 years of practice, first in government as a successful trade negotiator and then as an influential adviser to the private sector in the core competences of ITS Global.
Before establishing the consultancy in 1989, Alan was a career diplomat. He represented Australia in Singapore, at the United Nations in New York and in Geneva. He transferred to the Trade Department in 1985 and served as Ambassador to the GATT, the predecessor of the World Trade Organization, until 1989. He played a key role in creating the ground-breaking coalition of agricultural exporters, the Cairns Group. He was the first Australian to serve as GATT Chairman.
Alan has extensive experience advising government and the private sector on strategy and corporate affairs, managing multidisciplinary projects on trade and economic policy and delivering capacity building programs for developing countries in the Asia Pacific region.
Alan is Chairman of the national Australian APEC Study Centre, one of Australia's leading Asia Pacific Research Centres, based at RMIT University, Melbourne and is the founder and Chairman of World Growth, a free market NGO based in the United States. He is also a Senior Fellow of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), Brussels.
Alan is a regular commentator in international print and electronic media .
Kristen Bondietti is an expert in international trade law, policy and development, specialising in World Trade Organisation Agreements and Free Trade Agreements. Areas of expertise include services, trade facilitation, technical and regulatory controls on trade, subsidies and trade and environment.
Kristen has over ten years’ experience consulting to government, major companies and industry groups in Australia and South East Asia on trade agreements and trade policy issues. She has undertaken research projects for government and international organisations including the OECD, the ASEAN Secretariat, the APEC Secretariat, the Asian Development Bank, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Austrade. She has conducted joint research with institutions in Australia, Korea, The Philippines, Thailand and China.
Kristen has designed, managed and participated in over thirty capacity building activities to assist developing countries in Asia Pacific and Africa to implement trade policy obligations and manage their impacts. She designed and led trade technical assistance programs for officials in ASEAN and APEC developing countries on projects funded by AusAID, UNDP, the Japanese Ministry of Trade and the British Development Agency. She has ground consulting experience in Australia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea.
Kristen has a Masters degree in international law from the University of Melbourne and undergraduate degrees in economics and in law from the Australian National University. She is a Trade Consultant to the Australian APEC Study Centre at RMIT University.
Khalil Hegarty is an expert project manager and adviser on corporate affairs/public policy, strategic communications and corporate social responsibility. Khalil has more than ten years’ professional experience in academia, media and communications. He specializes in consulting to the private sector, particularly resource extraction, agricultural and forestry industries. He has also consulted to Australian state governments, industry bodies in Australia and the ASEAN region, and provided strategic communications advice to quasi-governmental bodies in Australia and Indonesia.
Khalil is an experienced project manager on long-term and multi-faceted public policy and corporate social responsibility projects. He has managed projects for Australian state governments, peak bodies and private companies in Australia and the ASEAN region, including social and economic impact assessments, external communications projects and long-term corporate social responsibility strategies.
He has extensive experience advising on policy options for stakeholder management, corporate social responsibility and strategic communications for the private sector and providing media and strategic communications advice for land use and other extractive industries. Khalil’s clients include private companies in the agricultural and forestry sector in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, industry associations in the Australian agricultural sector and the non-profit sector in the United States.
Prior to joining ITS Global, Khalil was a media professional working with News Ltd, Fairfax and a number of small independent media outlets. Before that he was undertaking postgraduate research and teaching at Monash University.
Jeffrey Rae is a qualified economist with more than three decades of experience in policy analysis and advice involving a wide range of domestic and international issues. This experience has been gained from working in both the public and the private sectors, and both in Australia and overseas.
Jeff’s experience has encompassed numerous cost-benefit and economic impact assessments of public infrastructure and private investment proposals, the taxation and regulation of a wide variety of economic activities, as well as the provision of border protection and budgetary assistance to domestic industry. In the process of doing so, he has worked on most sectors of the economy, including the transport, natural resources, energy, manufacturing, financial services, recreation and community services sectors. His expertise is such that he has been used on a number of occasions as an expert witness in litigation before the Australian Competition Tribunal, the Australian Federal Court, and State tribunals in Australia.
Prior to moving into private consultancy in 1998, Jeff was a senior executive with the Australian Government. As such he worked in the Department of Finance, the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the Department of Primary Industries and Energy and the Industry Commission. During this period he also spent extended periods on secondment to the New Zealand Treasury and the OECD in Paris. In the latter role he supervised the annual process for monitoring progress on agricultural trade liberalisation.
As one of the Commissioners on the (then) Industry Commission, Jeff presided over or participated in public inquiries into urban transport, the downstream petroleum industry, occupational health and safety, and environmentally sustainable land management.
Tom Westcott is a Senior Consultant and expert in international trade and investment law and policy with over ten years’ experience working in international organisations, government and business. Areas of specialist knowledge include international investment agreements, foreign investment policy issues, and services and investment regulation.
Tom has consulted to government in Australia and Europe and to major companies in Australia and the region. He has conducted research assignments for the ASEAN Secretariat, the Asian Development Bank, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Austrade and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. He has also provided capacity building for APEC developing economies and undertaken various consulting assignments for commercial clients.
Prior to joining ITS Global, Tom served as Legal Adviser in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment Division in Geneva. This role included leading research initiatives on international investment and providing technical assistance and capacity building to officials from over 50 developing countries from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Tom was previously Director (Senior Adviser) of the Trade Section in the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where he was responsible for the Prime Minister’s interests in, among other things, the WTO, bilateral trade agreements, and APEC. Before that he worked for the Australian Treasury as an investment treaty negotiator and policy adviser on international investment issues.
Prior to working in government, Tom was a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ strategy practice. He holds a Masters degree in international law (LLM with merit) from the Australian National University and undergraduate degrees in economics (with first class Honours) and law from Monash University.
Madeleine is an experienced economic and policy analyst. She has experience advising for political leaders in the Victorian State Parliament on a range of issues. She has provided advice and technical economic analysis, drafted proposed environmental legislation for the Victorian Parliament and researched numerous fields of social and economic policy. She is also experienced in developing and implementing campaign strategies and public relations.
She qualified as a lawyer and economist at the University of Melbourne having specialised in economics, trade and environmental law. Madeleine has experience advising to industry and government in developing nations on policy direction and strategy, particularly in the areas of environmental regulation and certification.
Consultants
Kristy Coulter is an experienced economic consultant. Prior to joining ITS Global, Kristy served as an economic consultant at ACIL Tasman and with a smaller consultancy firm. She has worked as university lecturer and also has public sector experience at the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance and the Productivity Commission.
Kristy has experience working in developing economies, including as a Trade in Services Specialist in Indonesia and as an Australian Youth Ambassador in rural Vietnam. These roles have included providing developing economies with technical assistance and capacity building.
Kristy has graduated with a Masters degree in economics from the University of Melbourne and undergraduate degrees in economics (with first class Honours), finance and science.
Luke is an experienced communications consultant. Prior to joining ITS Global, Luke worked as a consultant and project manager for an international consultancy based in Europe. He has more than seven years’ professional experience in managing external communications projects in developing economies.
Luke has developed and managed strategic communications programs, customised media campaigns and public relations efforts for clients in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Thailand, Russia and Nigeria. He has drafted media releases, coordinated stakeholder seminars and contributed to press and digital media publications. Luke has provided communications and media advice to government departments, industry associations and private companies operating in Energy, Telecommunications, Mining, Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism.
He has a strong knowledge and understanding of international media, strategic communications and Asia Pacific issues. Luke graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce/Arts and is currently completing an MBA at the Melbourne Business School.
Zak Levick is a consultant and policy analyst with expertise in environmental standards & conformance, Environmental Management Systems, and forestry & agricultural certification schemes. Zak has experience managing complex projects, having assisted industry align operations with environmental and legality standards, undertaken conformity assessment of national forestry standards and produced comparative analyses of international forestry certification schemes.
Zak has a strong understanding of environmental policy, natural resource management and resource economics. He has contributed to a number of studies investigating land-use planning, agricultural production, forestry and climate change. Prior to joining ITS Global, Zak worked in the areas of environmental and social research for an international consultancy based in New Zealand. Zak holds an undergraduate degree in Geography and is currently studying towards a Masters in Environment and Planning through RMIT University.
Andrew is a talented researcher and analyst on economic policy issues and project management for development assistance. He has two years of experience in private and public sector consulting, working in Australia, the Middle East and ASEAN.
Prior to joining ITS Andrew worked as a business analyst with Accenture. He has also interned with a public sector consulting firm in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, advising environmental entities on performance management and cost benefit analysis in the energy and essential services sectors.
Andrew has a bachelor of business with majors in international business and economics, and a first class Honours degree in international studies from RMIT University, Melbourne. He completed extensive ethnographic and development policy research in rural Guatemala as a part of his Honours research and subsequently received the Vice Chancellors Academic List award for his thesis.
Associates
Bill Bowen is a former ITS Global Principal Consultant (2005-2010). Prior to this he served as a senior Australian diplomat. Bill has expertise in international environmental and economic issues.
Before joining ITS he was advisor on domestic and international environment policy in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2002 -2005). He was the Director of the Climate Change Section in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (1999-2001). His most recent posting with DFAT was as Counsellor Economic in Australia's High Commission in New Zealand (1996 - 1999). In addition to his international trade and environment policy experience (including leading Australia’s delegation to a range of OECD trade and environment negotiations) he was the assistant to Australia's Executive Director at the World Bank (1984-1987).
As well as postings in Africa and Central Europe with DFAT, he was seconded to AusAID, the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (for the development and negotiation of a co-financing agreement between the Berne Union of Export Credit Agencies and the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank) and to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Government Operations.
He has as a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) majoring in economics from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Science (Economics) from the London School of Economics.
Dr Selwyn Heilbron is an associate of ITS Global and a senior business economist and corporate consultant with special expertise in Australian and international agribusiness, and the food and beverage industries. He has served as Research Consultant with the World Bank, Washington DC, Senior Economist with the Department of Trade, Canberra, and as Manager (Planning) and Chief Economist of Elders Agribusiness, Melbourne.
Dr Heilbron has worked with ITS Global on several projects over the past ten years. Recent projects include a comprehensive review of international processed food markets, a strategic analysis on import opportunities in the US beef market, business development opportunities in Asian and global food markets and supply chains for commodity trade with India. He has completed major analyses of market access and food channel development in Asian economies, including Japan and Korea. Dr Heilbron works regularly in the ASEAN region and visits North America, Europe and Latin America to assess market conditions in agricultural industries.
David Harris is an economist with a professional background built around a blend of commercial, international and government experience over 30 years. He has considerable expertise in economic advisory work and model based quantitative analyses for a variety of private and public sector clients. He has a Master of Economics and a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics degree.
David’s professional experience has come from positions with ABARE, the Centre for International Economics (CIE), the OECD ecretariat, Bonlac Foods Dairy Co-operative and his own independent consulting firm, D. N Harris & Associates. Areas of specialisation include program evaluations, policy analysis, R&D investment planning, trade policy assessment, structural adjustment, business evelopment strategies, regulatory reviews and analysing global commodity markets. His skill base includes benefit-cost analysis, the application of simulation models and capacity building in policy development.
David has undertaken projects for Australian based clients such as the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, epartment of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Dairy Australia, and the Victoria Department of Primary Industries. His international experience includes assignments with agencies such as AusAID, The OECD ecretariat, ACIAR, the APEC Secretariat and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Much of this work has focused on economies in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dr Hassan has over 20 years’ experience with Indonesian economic trade policy issues, and negotiations and is an associate of ITS Global. He was Indonesia's Ambassador to the GATT (now WTO) and chief negotiator during the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations. He has served as Chairman of the International Textiles and Clothing Bureau, an association of developing textile exporting countries and is currently Executive Director at the Centre for Economic and Business Negotiations and Dispute Settlement, Jakarta. In conjunction with ITS, Dr Kartadjoemena has developed training proposals for Indonesia to meet and manage its WTO obligations in trade in goods and services. He is one of four experts selected by the Indonesian President to advise on Indonesia's current services trade negotiations.
Digby is an expert consultant on government policy and international relations in the field of biosecurity and food safety. From 1988 to 2000 he was a senior manager in the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and Biosecurity Australia, with responsibility for policy development, risk analysis and international issues. He led the Australian delegation in the negotiation of the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures, and from 1995 he represented Australia in the SPS Committee. He also represented Australia in the Codex Alimentarius Commission, serving two terms as Vice-chairman of that body, and he chaired the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems from its inception in 1992.
As a consultant he has worked for a number of international organizations including the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, and the International Trade Centre, as well as for a number of national aid agencies. He has provided training in the field of SPS control in Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Egypt, Kuwait, Malaysia, Vietnam and Zambia. He continues to advise Australian Government agencies.
John Landos is a specialist in the institutional strengthening of developing countries relating to the WTO SPS Agreement including import quarantine, food regulation and export market access. Since 1996 he has undertaken a wide range of assignments within Australia as well as Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific regions.
From 1982 to 1996 John held a range of senior executive service positions with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and its predecessor organisations. These positions involved executive responsibilities across export market access, food inspection, certification and regulation. From 1990-1994 John was head of Australia's Animal and Plant Quarantine Service and in that capacity was responsible for all policy, operational and management aspects of the Service.
John Dunkley is a director and co-founder of Milne Dunkley Customs and Forwarding, Customs Brokers and Dunkley International Pty Ltd, Tariff and Trade Consultants. He has specialised in the customs field for more than 30 years. He spent 16 years with government holding senior customs positions in commercial investigations, anti-dumping, valuation and preference and by-laws.
During the past 30 years John has advised Australian and overseas companies and industry bodies on Australian industry assistance measures, including sectoral arrangements for TCF and passenger motor vehicle manufacturing, anti-dumping, customs valuation and preference, and the Australian tariff system including tariff concessions and policy by-laws. John has acted as principal adviser to companies involved in successfully appealing government decisions through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the Federal Court and the High Court of Australia on anti-dumping, valuation and tariff matters.
Dr Smith is a resource economist and one of Australia's most experienced forestry experts. He is currently a Director on the board of VicForests, the Victorian state forestry agency. He is also a former Director General of the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation and Managing Director of State Forests New South Wales.
Dr Smith has over 30 years’ experience in the forestry sector in Australia. Dr Smith has extensive work experience and academic qualifications in public forest management, certification systems, management and organizational reviews, forestry, water and environmental service markets. He has overseen the development and implementation of legislation, policy and programs for forestry and natural resource management.
Dr Smith also has extensive experience in water resource management. As the Director General of the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation, he oversaw the management of surface and ground water in that state. He managed the delivery of water for consumptive uses and for environmental flows, the introduction of new legislation for water management and instituted processes for wider community involvement in water resources management. Dr Smith also has expertise in effective integrated catchment management. He was a Commissioner on the Murray Darling Basin Commission from 1996 to 2003 and held the position of Deputy President from 2001 to 2003.
Zena Helman is an ITS Global associate consultant. Zena has more than 30 years’ experience in environmental management, policy development and planning. She has provided extensive environmental advice to both government and the private sector. She is a Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand and a lead environmental auditor (RABQSA certified) of environmental management systems, financial liability, and compliance. She has undertaken environmental assessments and audits of sites and facilities in Australia and Asia. Ms Helman has also prepared environmental management plans for a range of industries, and developed cleaner production/eco-efficient programs for industry. Ms Helman holds a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Master of Environmental Science and Bachelor of Science (Hons) from Monash University.
Roy Nixon is an international investment consultant having spent nearly 30 years in the Australian Treasury. He has an extensive background on bilateral, regional and multilateral investment and trade issues including negotiating various types of investment agreements. He was the Chair of the APEC Investment Experts Group from 2005 to 2009 and was responsible for the successful negotiation and implementation of the APEC Investment Facilitation Action Plan.
Roy has consulted to the Australian APEC Study Centre, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and has been engaged to provide private consulting advice on major foreign investment cases. He has recently worked with ITS Global to assess for the ASEAN Secretariat, the implementation of ASEAN’s services and investment agreements.