Education

• PhD, New York University, USA, Political Science, 2002
• MA, New York University, USA, Political Science, 1999
• BA (Hons), University of Melbourne, Australia, Politics, 1991

Professional service

• Board member, Mustard Seed Institute (Rwanda/Australia)
• Convenor 2016, Sydney Development Circle (a network of development practitioners and academics)
• Member, Australian Civilian Corps
• Member, African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific
• Reviewer for Geoforum, Case Studies in the Environment, J. of African History, and African Affairs

Countries of experience

D.R. Congo, Burundi, Ghana, Rwanda, Somalia, Zimbabwe, East Timor, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, and Australia.

Recent professional training

• Fraud Risk Management (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners)
• Australian Civilian Corps foundation training (Australia Aid)
• Integrated Risk and Compliance Management: Advanced Training (SAI Global)
• Performance Audit Training (Australian Council of Auditors General)
• Community and Stakeholder Engagement (Independent Commission Against Corruption)

Recent Consultancies and Employment

2017-2020: Corruption Prevention Expert, EU-Ghana ‘Anti-Corruption, Rule of Law and Accountability Programme’.  This project promotes reform in environmental governance in Ghana.  My role, which involves several short-term inputs annually, focuses on preventing corruption and noncompliance around logging and mining, as well as strengthening the capacity of Ghanaian institutions to perform this role.

Mar-May 2020: Scoping Study: Corruption and Climate Change in Development Programmes. U4 Anti-Corruption Research Center, Norway.  This report identified future pathways for research on the relationship between corruption and climate change.

Oct 2019 – Feb 2020: Review Report of Land and Corruption in Africa. Transparency International, Berlin.  This report analysed evidence from a large-scale survey in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, and Zimbabwe about corruption in land administration services.

May-Aug 2019: Tackling fraud in social benefits programmes.  OECD, Paris.  This research project surveyed prevention initiatives in the welfare sector and possible future directions, particularly the role ‘big data’ could play.

May 2016-Jan 2017: Preventing Corruption in Community Mineral Beneficiation Schemes, U4 Anti-Corruption Research Institute, Norway.  This consultancy involved researching the causes and patterns of corruption in community development projects and CSR programmes funded by mineral revenues, and makes 10 policy recommendations.

Dec 2015-Jan 2017: Anti-Corruption Specialist: Independent Commission Against Corruption, Sydney, Australia.  I  revised the ICAC’s ‘new generation’ of corruption prevention advice into a format suitable for users accessing it via the internet, including advising on pilot-testing.

2016 (Apr-Oct): Corruption Risk Assessment Tool for the Mining Sector, Transparency International, Berlin.  This current consultancy involves designing a risk assessment tool for use by 21 selected TI chapters in jurisdictions with a significant mining sector.

2016 (May-Oct, part-time): Review of the Management of Radicalised Inmates, Inspector of Custodial Services, Sydney, Australia.  With a colleague I analysed the organisational systems used in NSW to manage radicalised inmates, including diagnosing weaknesses in these systems and making recommendations for improvement. Research included interviewing custodial staff and terrorist inmates, and reviewing global best practice.

2013-2016: Independent Member, Code of Conduct Review Panel, Gosford & Wyong Local Councils, NSW.  As an independent third-party reviewer, I investigate allegations that staff and elected officials have breached the Council’s Code of Conduct, including making a determination regarding findings of fact and recommending follow-up actions to resolve the matter.

2013-2016 (2 weeks annually): Interview panel member (Public Sector Reform & Mining Sector expert).  On a panel of three, I have interviewed candidates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa applying for Australian Government scholarships to do Master degrees in Australia.

2016 (March) + 2015 (Dec): Anti-Corruption Specialist: Community Development Projects, Kyrgyz Republic.  I wrote a training manual and did train-the-trainer work on preventing corruption in community development projects for the Kyrgyz Community Development and Investment Agency.  The manual was developed collaboratively with input from local community development facilitators and piloted in communities prior to finalization.

2015 (part-time): Community Engagement Consultant, Strategic Development Associates.  I provided advice on community engagement to a private investment fund developing a new housing development in Sydney.  Stakeholders included the local school, municipality, sports clubs, residents adjacent to the development, and Christian and Muslim religious organisations.

2015 (Aug-Sept): Consultant, Whistleblower Protections, New South Wales Dept of Environment & Heritage, Sydney, Australia.  I wrote the new policy, procedure and guidelines for reporting suspected corruption and non-compliance in the department.

2015 (Jan-Feb): Capacity Building Advisor: Needs assessment of Independent Minerals Chain Auditor (IMCA), International Conference of the Great Lakes Region of Africa (based in Burundi).  I recommended how to improve the IMCA’s decision-making around: investigations into corruption and noncompliance in the minerals chain, conflict risk analysis and M&E of chains of custody.  This included identifying the relationships, organizational structures, staff and equipment that are needed to optimize and strengthen the IMCA function.

2014 (Dec): Chair, Tender Assessment Panel: Australia Awards – Africa Short Courses (employed by Palladium/GRM).  The TAP recommended Australian-African university consortia to run short courses to build the capacity of African public officials in extractive industries.

2014 (Sept-Oct): Probity Adviser, Procure Group, Sydney.  I advised government agencies on governance in procurement, including tender evaluations and negotiations with private companies bidding for contracts ranging in value from $2 million to over $10 billion.

2014 (Aug): Co-designed/co-taught Corruption and International Development: Responses in Law, Policy and Practice, Master-level intensive course offered by the Faculty of Law, University of Sydney.

2014 (10 weeks): Procurement research/advice on reducing corruption risks in facilities management contracting, Independent Commission Against Corruption, Sydney.

July 2013 – March 2014: Capacity Building Adviser for Corruption Prevention Division, East Timor Anti-Corruption Commission.

2013 (May): Conflict Minerals Consultant, Support for Mining Governance Program, AusAID (desk-based).  I was responsible for helping to identify and design activities to build the capacity of the Audit Committee for the Bujumbura-based International Conference on the Great Lakes Region of Africa’s new certification mechanism for conflict minerals.

2012 (July-Aug): Team Leader/Political Economy Advisor for a project to identify a funding mechanism for the certification mechanism for conflict minerals being established by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region of Africa.  Managing contractor – Adam Smith International.  Funding agency: GIZ.  Travel to D.R. Congo, Burundi, Rwanda.

2006-2012: Senior Corruption Prevention Officer, Independent Commission Against Corruption, Sydney, New South Wales.  I worked on investigations into allegations of corruption, researched trends in corruption prevention, trained to public officials, and provided advice to organisations on how to prevent corruption.  For a period I had a particular focus on corruption prevention training for Local Aboriginal Land Councils.

A full CV is available on request.