Dr Scott Prasser, is the Key Principal of Policy Solutions. With undergraduate and masters’ qualifications from the University of Queensland and a doctorate in public policy related areas from Griffith University, Scott has worked at a number of universities in Queensland and interstate and is a well known commentator on public policy issues in state and national media. In addition, Scott has also been employed in State and Federal governments in senior policy advisory and research positions in both departmental and ministerial roles covering departments such as Tourism, Small Business and Industry, State Development, Immigration and Premier and Cabinet and so appreciates the realities of modern public sector organisations.
More recently, Scott has had extensive experience in working with the private sector and government on regional economic development issues, client evaluation, event evaluation and water related issues. In 2004 Scott was commissioned by the Property Council of Australia to produce a report on the future directions for the Sunshine Coast economy that has subsequently been a major influence on government policy in this area.
Scott has written extensively on a range of economic development and public policy issues and in 2006 published, Royal Commissions and Public Inquiries in Australia and is a member of a number of professional bodies.
David Gration has had extensive experience in events management in Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and the ACT. David has been a board member of numerous state and national associations including his roles as past president of the Australasian Performing Arts Centre Association and regional representative on the board of Arts Training Australia.
David brings a strong background knowledge of tourism and regional development issues from both commercial and local government perspectives. David is highly experienced in conference and seminar organising with a focus on programming, marketing, multi-disciplinary team coordination and community consultation processes.
David has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Queensland University of Technology (QUT). More recently, David has lectured at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in areas ranging from Tourism to Small Business Management & Entrepreneurship and Marketing.
Bruce Kingston, was formerly a senior manager with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority responsible for strategic community consultation and issue management of a range of controversial policy decisions. Bruce has also worked in government departments in ministerial advisory roles in Treasury and Welfare Services. Bruce brings private sector experience in providing analytical advice having worked for Mount Isa Mines and national professional associations such as the Royal Institute of Architects. Bruce is a graduate of QUT.
Dom Pensiero, Assistant Dean, University of Southern Queensland
Facilitates: Understanding & Using Statistics; Understanding and Designing Surveys
Dom Pensiero is the Associate Dean (Planning and Resources) at USQ, he also lectures post-graduate students nationally and internationally in Business Forecasting, Econometrics and Decision Support Tools. Dom designed and developed Policy Solutions training workshops on the issues of Understanding and Using Statistics for Policy and Understanding and Designing Surveys. Dom holds a Master of and a Bachelor of Commerce (with merit) from the University of Wollongong (Economics major). Dom has extensive experience as a consultant on a range of issues including the use and understanding of statistics for policy analysis, inferential analysis and business planning and has been responsible for analysis for government agencies, private sector organisations and industry groups including:
- Naomi Cotton - feasible econometric forecasting model for cotton pricing in Australia
- Eastern Downs Regional Organisation of Councils - regional community profile
- CYPLUS Taskforce, Queensland Department of Lands - Land Use Program study
- Provision of market research consultancy studies to small businesses comprising of target market identification, customer perceptions on clients products based on attributes of service, price, quality etc, effectiveness of differing promotional strategies, short term forecasting models and identification of potential growth areas.
Dom is extensively published and some of his most recent works include: Analysis of the Characteristics of the Economy of the Southern Inland Queensland Region and The Capacity of the Eastern Downs Region to Undertake Regional Economic Planning in the Light of National and Global Systems.
Wayne Graham, BMgt, BBus (Hons) University of Sunshine Coast
Facilitates: Essential Skills for Managing Groups and Teams; Advanced Skills for Managing Groups and Teams; Conducting Focus Groups to Maximise Outcomes
Wayne Graham is a Lecturer in Management at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He has taught Leadership and Team Dynamics, Applied Research Methods, Management Strategy, and Managing the Organisation. His current research involves the development of a Strategy Process Diagnostic, a tool for analysing strategic management in organisations. He has recently co-authored three case studies for an Australian strategic management textbook.
Prior to his current position he was a Lecturer in organisational behaviour at Southern Cross University. He has taught Frontline Management and Retail Management at TAFE in Queensland and New South Wales. Prior to working in the higher education and vocational sectors, Wayne had over 10 years experience in the automotive industry, where he held various positions including Team Leader and Fleet Sales Manager.
Dr Geoff Cockfield, Faculty of Business, University of Southern Queensland
Facilitates: Evaluating Policies and Programs
Geoff has a long involvement in rural industry and with regional economic development issues. He has written on agricultural and rural industry restructuring issues, natural resources management and presented many papers on regional development. Geoff's most recent published work is, 2003, 'Reporting the drought: A study of news cycles', Australian Journalism Review, 25 (1), pp. 171-186, and his most recent research projects, conducted with other researchers, include 2003, A Pilot Study of Methods to Assess the 'Vital Signs' of Rural Communities and 2002, Pittsworth Shire Council and Department of Transport and Regional Services, Development in the Pittsworth Shire.
Mr Geoff Baker has had extensive public policy experience as a senior executive for 12 years in the Queensland Government with the Department of Local Government and Planning. He brings detailed knowledge of evaluation methodologies, having overseen the conduct of 12 major evaluations of State legislation. This included responsibility for three major evaluations as part of the National Competition Policy review of anti-competitive legislation.
Geoff has developed particular skills in the use of quasi-experimental design in evaluating public sector services. With a Master of Business Administration (Executive) from the premier business school in the Asia Pacific, the Australian Graduate School of Management, Geoff also brings the latest economic analytic skills on business strategy and investment evaluation.
Dr Graeme Starr is currently an independent consultant, writer and lecturer with qualifications in Government, Political Science and Public Administration from major universities in Australia, Canada and the United States, where he was awarded his PhD as a Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellow. He has an extensive list of books and other publications and has taught post-graduate university courses in specialist fields of Government-Business Relations, Issues Management and Politics and Public Policy. Graeme has many years of experience as an adviser to prime ministers, premiers and other federal and state ministers, political management and private consultancy in Canberra and Washington.
Dr Nicholas Aroney is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Queensland. He has published extensively in constitutional law, and has particular expertise in federalism, individual rights and constitutional design. Dr Aroney's book Freedom of Speech in the Constitution (1998) is a standard work in the field, and his PhD thesis, which won the Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal at Monash University, is shortly to be published by Cambridge University Press under the title, The Constitution of a Federal Commonwealth: The Making and Meaning of the Australian Constitution. He is also working on a further book, to be published by Ashgate Press (UK) under the title, Constitutional Federalism: Theory and Practice. Dr Aroney works regularly as a legal consultant in a number of legal fields, including constitutional law and building and construction law. |
