Free Webinar Featuring Stanford University's Professor Nick Bloom Exploring 'The Future of Working From Home'
This free online presentation will discuss how working from home has fared post-pandemic and what the future is. Using US & international data the presentation will show how hybrid working has become common post-pandemic for managers & professionals. The main motivation for this is cutting space and retention costs for business, improving overall profitability. Finally, the talk will discuss the longer-run impact of rising WFH on cities, fertility & leisure including golf.
It will feature Professor Nick Bloom in conversation with ESA’s National President, Professor Robert Breunig.
EVENT DETAILS
DATE: Thursday, 14 May 2026
TIME: From 10.00am until 11.00am AWST (Perth Time)
VIA: Online via Zoom
COST: Free of Charge for ESA Members / $10 for Non-Members ESA Members must login prior to avoid the non-member fee.
Once you've registered for the event online- the webinar link to join this event will be automatically generated and emailed to you.
So for more info and to register online, please go to:
https://esacentral.org.au/event/65717/eminent-speaker-series-prof-nick-bloom-online-only
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Nicholas (Nick) Bloom is the William Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford University, a Senior Fellow of SIEPR, and the Co-Director of the Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research focuses on management practices and uncertainty. He previously worked at the UK Treasury and McKinsey & Company.
He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the recipient of the Alfred Sloan Fellowship, the Bernacer Prize, the European Investment Bank Prize, the Frisch Medal, the Kauffman Medal and a National Science Foundation Career Award. He has a BA from Cambridge, an MPhil from Oxford, and a PhD from University College London.
Women in Economics WA
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The Women in Economics (WEN) network has been formed to promote and support the careers of female economists in Australia.
Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in economics. Feel free to touch base to find out more about being involved.
FREE WORKSHOP ON CGE MODELLING AT CURTIN UNI (BENTLEY) - WEDNESDAY, 6 MAY 2026 (FROM 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM)
The WA Young Economists Network (WA YEN) have organised a workshop focussing on CGE Modelling which will be delivered by Zac Muscat (Curtin University PhD Candidate) on the evening of Wednesday, May 6th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm in Lecture Theatre 402.220 within Building 402 at the Curtin University Bentley Campus.
The topics that will be covered in the CGE Modelling Workshop will include:
- Motivations for using mathematical models (such as CGE)
- A broad overview of the models used by WA Treasury which also help lead into policy costings
- Introduction into CGE modelling
- A few practical hands on CGE modelling exercises
- Concluding with a brief overview of the differences between using CGE models and empirical methods such as VAR models
UPCOMING WORKSHOP ON CGE MODELLING
DATE: Wednesday, 6 May 2026
TIME: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
VENUE: Computer Lab 402.220 in Building 402 at Curtin University,
Kent Street, Bentley Campus
COST: Free for Everyone to attend but registrations to the
event are essential
Light refreshments will be provided.
This Workshop is a popular event.
While registrations close at 12 noon Tuesday, May 5th- register online to secure your place now via:
https://esawa.org.au/event/65995/young-economists-network-cge-modelling-workshop
Prior to the workshop, all attendees will be emailed content that will assist with some of the CGE modelling exercises/activities undertaken throughout the session. Attendees will have access to desktop computers in Lecture Theatre 402.220 to undertake these exercises.
So register before 12 noon on Tuesday, 5 May 2026 to avoid disappointment.
Please also feel free to share info about the upcoming CGE Modelling Workshop with your networks.
Find out more about the benefits of becoming a Economic Society of Australia (WA Branch) member here:
https://esawa.org.au/index.php?action=join
Economic Society of Australia (WA Branch) Student Sundowner on
Wednesday, March 18th at the University Club of WA
This event is primarily for ESA Student Members and provides an excellent opportunity to meet fellow students, connect with economists, and expand your professional network in a relaxed setting. All ESA members and non-members are also welcome to attend.
Canapés will be served and drinks may be purchased at the bar.
Date: Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Time: From 5:30pm
Venue: Bar/Cafe Verandah, University Club of Western Australia
Registrations are essential.
Student Members: $10 (Student Members will be emailed a promo
code for $10 entry)
ESA members: $20
Non-members: $30
Please register online by COB Wednesday, 11 March 2026 via:
https://esawa.org.au/event/65973/economic-society-of-australia-wa-branch-student-sundowner
Not yet an ESA member? Find out more about how to become a member through:
https://esawa.org.au/index.php?action=join
EMINENT SPEAKER SERIES: Free Webinar Featuring Professor Jesse Rothstein
Everyone is invited to join in on this thought‑provoking free online webinar featuring Professor Jesse Rothstein in conversation with Professor Robert Breunig as they explore how neighbourhoods and firms shape intergenerational mobility.
ABSTRACT
Children’s incomes tend to resemble their parents', a relationship that is particularly pronounced in higher-inequality societies like the United States. However, the mechanisms behind this intergenerational earnings transmission are not well understood. Using a new dataset to look at the roles of neighbourhoods and firms in shaping intergenerational economic transmission in the U.S., this work has four main findings:
1. Neighborhoods are critical to intergenerational transmission. Holding parents’ earnings constant, children from higher-earning neighborhoods earn much more. The effect of neighborhood average earnings is as strong or stronger than parents' own earnings, capturing nearly all the variation in neighborhood "quality."
2. Parent's earnings reflect both their own skills (human capital) and the specific pay boost provided by their employer (the firm premium). Both components are transmitted to children's earnings, though the person component (reflecting parental skills) is transmitted more strongly.
3. Children whose parents or neighbors work at high-premium firms tend to grow up to work at high-premium firms themselves. This firm premium is transmitted across generations independently of human capital, strongly suggesting that networks play an important role in accessing high-paying jobs.
4. Black children grow up to earn less than white children, even when their parents’ earnings are the same. About one-third of this is explained by the differential sorting of Black and White families into neighborhoods with different mean parental earnings. Notably, none of it is explained by differential access to high-premium firms; the Black-White gap in average firm premiums is near zero.
These results point to important avenues for policy and research regarding intergenerational mobility. On the policy side, access to high-earnings neighborhoods is crucial, and policies to promote economic integration have promise to increase mobility. On the research side, it is important to better understand the role of networks in mediating access to good jobs.
WEBINAR DETAILS:
Date: Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Time: 10.00am - 11.00am PERTH TIME
Online via Zoom
Cost: Free of Charge for Everyone (Registration Required)
So for more details about the webinar and to register for it online, please go to:
The WA Branches of the Economic Society of Australia (ESA) and the Women in Economics Network (WA WEN) invite you to our 2026 International Women’s Day Breakfast on Thursday, 12 March 2026 which will feature an address by Professor Alison Preston on women’s economic participation.
EVENT DETAILS:
Date: Thursday 12 March 2026
Time: 7:30am - 9:00am
Venue: The Chamber of Minerals & Energy Boardroom
Level 13, 225 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000
Places are limited & registrations are essential for this in-person event.
COST:
ESA members: $10
Non-members: $35
International Women’s Day (IWD) celebrates social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, while also reflecting on the work that remains to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. The theme for IWD 2026, Balance the Scales, highlights the importance of fairness, inclusion and access to justice for women & girls.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Alison Preston is a Professor of Economics at the University of Western Australia Business School and President of the ESA (WA Branch). Her research examines labour markets, particularly gender, employment and economic security.
Registrations for the event close on Monday, 9 March 2026.
So for more info and to register online- please go to:
Applications Now Open for Women in Economics Mentoring Retreat 2025
The Women in Economics Network (part of the Economics Society of Australia) is hosting the 2025 Women in Economics Mentoring Retreat as an in-person event, to be held from Wednesday, November 12th to Friday, November 14th at The Hilton, Surfers Paradise, Queensland.
The Retreat will provide an opportunity for around 30 mid-career women economists to develop their networks, receive mentoring and strengthen their leadership and career decision making. Participants will be drawn from academia, government and the private sector.
Sessions will focus on leadership and career development and life/work balance (a link to the preliminary program is below). The Retreat provides an opportunity for attendees to discuss issues as a group as well as participate in small group mentoring sessions with senior women from the same sector. Participants are asked to come to the Retreat with a career objective or challenge that they can work through with their mentor.
Retreat Sponsors will cover accommodation, meals and training at the Retreat. Participants are asked to make their own travel arrangements to and from the Gold Coast. A bus will be available from Coolangatta airport to the venue and will return at the conclusion of the Retreat. The Economic Society will assist in arranging carpooling for Brisbane-based participants.
Information on the Preliminary Program, Mentors and Presenters can be viewed here:
https://esawen.org.au/annual-mentoring-retreat-item/61465/wen-mentoring-retreat-2025-hilton-surfers-paradise/?type_fr=1154
HOW TO APPLY:
Applications for the 2025 Women in Economics Mentoring Retreat are now open and must be received by Monday, September 22nd. Successful applicants must be a current financial ESA Member & will be notified in early October.
So to find out more info & to apply online, please go to:
https://forms.securepage.com.au/forms/21/
Wine & Cheese Event with Productivity Commissioner Danielle Wood- Free for all WA Economics Society & WEN Members!
The WA Women in Economics Network (WA WEN) invites WA Economics Society & WEN members to a special wine & cheese event with Danielle Wood (Chair of the Productivity Commission). This will be an informal boardroom style event where we will hear from Danielle about her career and key insights she can offer to fellow economists over a glass of wine. WEN members will also have an opportunity to ask questions regarding her career and juggling work-life balance.
Danielle Wood commenced a 5-year term as Chair of the Productivity Commission on 13 November 2023. Prior to joining the Commission, she was CEO of the Grattan Institute and Head of its Budgets and Government Program. During her time at Grattan, Danielle also held roles as member of the Australian Government’s Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, the Parliamentary Budget Office Expert Advisory Committee, the Jobs and Skills Australia Consultative Forum and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Research Committee.
Danielle previously worked in senior roles at the ACCC and at NERA Economic Consulting. She started her career as a graduate at the Productivity Commission. Danielle holds an Honours degree in Economics from the University of Adelaide and two Masters degrees, one in Economics and one in Competition Law, from the University of Melbourne. Danielle is an Honorary Fellow and former President of the Economic Society of Australia and a Research Fellow of the Women’s Leadership Institute. She was the co-founder and first Chair of the Women in Economics Network.
She is also currently an ex-officio member of the Australian Government’s Competition Review Expert Advisory Panel.
EVENT DETAILS
Date: Monday, 20th October 2025
Time: 5pm to 6:30pm
Venue: Chamber of Minerals & Energy WA
Level 13, 225 St Georges Terrace, Perth (in-person only)
Cost: Free of charge for all WA Economics Society & WEN Members
So for more info & to register for the event online (noting that RSVPs close on Monday, October 13th) , please go to:
30/08/2025
60th Shann Memorial Lecture- Featuring RBA Governor Michele Bullock at UWA on Wednesday, September 3rd (Free for Everyone to Attend)
The 60th Shann Memorial Lecture will be delivered by guest speaker, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock on the topic of 'Technology, Trust, and the Future of Central Banking in Australia'.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Michele commenced as Governor on 18 September 2023, and is Chair of the RBA Governance, Monetary Policy and Payments System Boards and Council of Financial Regulators. She served on the Reserve Bank Board as Deputy Chair from 2 April 2022 and Chair from 18 September 2023 until 28 February 2025.
Prior to her current role, Ms Bullock was the RBA Deputy Governor. She has also held a variety of senior management positions at the RBA, including Assistant Governor (Financial System), Assistant Governor (Business Services), Assistant Governor (Currency), Adviser for the Currency Group and, before that, Head of Payments Policy Department. Ms Bullock is a Member of Chief Executive Women and a signatory to the Banking and Finance Oath.
EVENT DETAILS
Venue: Wesfarmers Lecture Theatre, UWA Business School
Date: Wednesday, September 3rd
Time: 4pm - 5:30pm
Cost: Free for Everyone (but registration for the event is required)
So for more details about the 60th Shann Memorial Lecture and to register for it online, please check out:
Shann Memorial Lecture: Public lecture in honour of the late Edward Shann | UWA The Shann Memorial Lecture honours the memory of the Foundation Chair of Economics and History at UWA, Edward Shann. A collaboration between the UWA Economics Department and the Economic Society of Australia (WA Branch), it has been running continuously since the 1960's. The lecture features an este...
FREE WORKSHOP ON EXCEL MODELLING & POLICY COSTING MODELS on September 11th at Curtin University (Bentley Campus)
The WA Young Economists Network (WA YEN) are excited to announce that they've organised a free Workshop which will be delivered by Zac Muscat (Curtin University PhD Candidate) on the evening of Thursday, September 11th from 6pm to 8:30pm in Computer Lab 402.231 within Building 402 at the Curtin University Bentley Campus.
As indicated, the Workshop is free for everyone to attend and to participate in (though Registration for the Workshop via the online portal is essential by 1pm on Wednesday, September 10th).
All Attendees will also be emailed ahead of the Workshop some content that will be covered during the session and that will assist them with some of the modelling exercises/activities which will be undertaken through the use of the desktop computers in Computer Lab 402.231.
'Be brilliant at the basics', is an old adage which is applicable to almost any profession- Economists are no exception. This Workshop will focus on two core basic skills namely Excel Modelling and Policy Costing Models.
Noting also that some free light snacks and soft drinks will also be provided for Workshop attendees.
So a summary of what will be discussed in the free workshop is outlined below and the topics covered in the Workshop will include:
Excel Best Principles Modelling:
- Excel Modelling conventions
- Basic calculations and data wrangling functions
- Charts and tables (including pivot tables and pivot charts)
Policy Costing Models:
- Purpose of Policy Costing models
- Structure of Policy Costings models
- Hands on worked example
FREE WORKSHOP ON EXCEL MODELLING & POLICY COSTING MODELS
DATE: Thursday, 11 September 2025
TIME: 6pm - 8:30pm
VENUE: Computer Lab 402.231 (Building 402), Curtin Uni Bentley
COST: Free for Everyone to attend at no cost
So for more info about the free Excel Modelling & Policy Costings Workshop and to register for it online, please go to:
FREE UPCOMING WEBINAR ON THE 'FUTURE OF MONEY'
Rapid changes in technology and in the preferences of firms and households are features of the Australian economy, nowhere else more so than in the payments system. How are central banks, including the RBA, thinking about the future of money, both digital and physical cash? What could be the role of central bank digital currencies, stable coins and tokenised bank deposits in supporting innovation, and what are the financial stability risks? And how could the demand for physical cash evolve in the future?
Everyone is invited to join us for this free webinar which will feature Assistant Governor Brad Jones (Financial System) and Assistant Governor Michelle McPhee (Business Services) from the Reserve Bank of Australia to discuss these issues with Professor Richard Holden (UNSW).
EVENT DETAILS
Date: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Time: From 10.00am until 11.00am PERTH TIME
Where: Online via Zoom
Cost: Free of Charge for Everyone
So for more details about the free webinar & to register for it online, please check out:
The Economic Society of Australia (WA Branch) is delighted to invite all Members (including WA WEN Members) to a free event at the upcoming 2025 History of Economic Thought Society of Australia (HETSA) Annual Conference on the topic of the History of the Economic Society of Australia.
In the session, Dr Alex Millmow will speak on his book project- titled 'An Evolving Record: A Centennial History of the Economic Society of Australia' which has been commissioned by ESA to coincide with the centenary anniversary of its founding in 1925.
This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Alex Millmow, John Roberts (ESAWA President), Emeritus Professor Harry Bloch (Curtin Uni) and Professor Michael McLure (UWA) as well as Dr Riko Stevens (UNDA) who will be Chairing the session.
So please join us for a Panel Discussion event at UWA Business School on Friday 18 July from 3:30-5pm. This will be followed by Refreshments from 5-7pm.
Topic: This presentation recounts some of the trials and tribulations of the Economic Society of Australia over the past 100 years. The Society’s original aims of promoting economic education remains the same, so too does its loose, federated structure and non-exclusivity. The Society’s greatest years in terms of influence were the 1970s and 1980s with membership approaching 3000. The 1990s posed an existential challenge with the rise of business education and the creation of competitive think-tanks. However, the Society responded to the decline in membership by launching initiatives to bring young professionals and women into the fold.
EVENT DETAILS:
Date: Friday, 18 July 2025
Time: 3:30-5:00pm for the Panel Discussion followed by Refreshments from 5:00-7:00pm
Location: University of Western Australia Business School, Hackett Drive, Crawley, WA, 6009
Registration: This is a free members only event so registration is required.
Registrations close on Thursday, 17 July at 5pm- so for more info and to register for the event online, please go to:
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