ACE 2026

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The 2026 Australian Conference of Economists (ACE) was held at the University of Canberra from 7–10 July 2026. The conference attracted over 400 delegates and featured more than 160 presentations, including keynote lectures, special policy panels, contributed sessions and poster sessions. Participants included researchers from universities across Australia and overseas, as well as economists from government departments, central banks, consulting firms and the private sector. ACE provided an important forum for disseminating frontier research, discussing contemporary economic and public policy challenges, and fostering interaction between academic economists and economists working in policy and industry.

The conference opened with the presentation of the 2025 Young Economist Award to Agnieszka Tymula (University of Sydney), who delivered a presentation entitled Irrational Decisions, Rational Brains. The session was chaired by Stephen Bartos (University of Canberra).

Keynote Speakers

ACE 2026 featured five internationally recognised keynote speakers covering a broad range of contemporary economic research and policy questions:

Monika Schnitzer (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Chair of the German Council of Economic Experts), Antitrust and Innovation: Lessons from the AT&T Antitrust Cases. The session was chaired by Dom English (Department of Industry, Science and Resources).
Linxiu Zhang (Director, UNEP–International Ecosystem Management Partnership, a joint centre of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Chinese Academy of Sciences), Enhancing Food System Resilience with a Nexus Approach. The session was chaired by Gordon Leslie (Monash University) and included comments from Katherine Wynn (CSIRO) and Yu Sheng (Australian National University).
Klaus M. Schmidt (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), Prosocial Preferences and Climate Regulation, and Muriel Niederle (Stanford University), A Gender Agenda: From the Lab to the Field to Policy. Their joint keynote session was chaired by Dom English (Department of Industry, Science and Resources).
Alan J. Auerbach (University of California, Berkeley), The Marginal Net Taxation of Americans’ Labor Supply. The session was chaired by Laura Berger-Thomson (Australian Treasury).

Professor Auerbach also spoke at a special conference dinner on The Future of U.S. Economic Policy.

Special Sessions

Alongside the contributed research program, ACE 2026 featured a series of special sessions bringing together researchers, policymakers and economic commentators to address major contemporary policy questions.

Macroeconomic Policy, chaired by Yiyong Cai (Australian Treasury), featured Sarah Hunter (Reserve Bank of Australia) speaking on Understanding supply shocks and their implications for monetary policy, with panellists Cherelle Murphy (EY Oceania) and Isaac Gross (Monash University).
How can we make economics more attractive to under-represented groups?, chaired by Catherine de Fontenay (Productivity Commission), featured Louisa Coglan (Queensland University of Technology, WEN National Chair), Emma Chow (Reserve Bank of Australia) and Cherelle Murphy (EY Oceania), examining initiatives to broaden participation and attract a more diverse range of students to economics.
Does the Budget Get in the Way of Good Policy?, chaired by Ashley Craig (Australian National University), featured Sam Reinhardt (Parliamentary Budget Office), John Kehoe (Australian Financial Review) and Amy Auster (Policy Institute Australia), exploring the interaction between fiscal policy and the budget process.
The Energy Transition, chaired by Rafat Mahmood (Monash University), featured Flavio Menezes (The University of Queensland), Frank Jotzo (Australian National University) and Linxiu Zhang (UNEP–International Ecosystem Management Partnership), discussing the economics and policy challenges associated with the energy transition.
Communicating Economics, chaired by Stephen Bartos (University of Canberra), brought together Victoria Thieberger (The Conversation), Shane Wright (The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) and Peter Martin (ABC) to discuss how economists can communicate more effectively with policymakers, the media and the broader public.
Do Labor's Tax Changes Make Sense?, chaired by Martine Mariotti (Australian National University), featured Matt Nolan (e61 Institute), Richard Holden (UNSW Sydney) and Robert Breunig (Australian National University), discussing the economic rationale and likely effects of the Australian Government's recent tax reforms. The final program confirms this session and its chair.

The conference concluded with a panel discussion, Is economics still relevant for policy?, chaired by Robert Breunig (Australian National University). The panel brought together Maathu Ranjan (Australian National University), Angela Jackson (Productivity Commission) and Aruna Sathanapally (Grattan Institute) to reflect on the role and relevance of economics in contemporary policymaking.

Economics and Public Engagement

A distinctive addition to the program was a live recording of ABC's The Economy, Stupid, Why not tax wealth, and why not start with billionaires? Hosted by Peter Martin (ABC), the discussion featured Richard Denniss (The Australia Institute) and Kristen Sobeck (University of Canberra). The event brought the style of public economic debate familiar to the program directly into the conference and provided another avenue for connecting economic research with broader public-policy discussion.

The conference also featured a Women in Economics Network (WEN) Lunch, attended by approximately 150 participants and chaired by Maria Racionero (Australian National University). The event featured keynote speaker Monika Schnitzer, who discussed the role of economists in undertaking frontier research that informs public policy, drawing on her experience as Chair of the German Council of Economic Experts. The discussion also explored leadership, career development and diversity within the economics profession.

The Young Economists Network (YEN) Lunch, Young Economists' views on the age of digital disruption, was chaired by Brodie Knox (Australian Treasury) and featured panellists Jemina Li (Victorian Government), Rui Zhang (Adelaide University) and Dominic Behrens (Centre of International Economics). The session provided a forum for young economists to discuss the implications of digital disruption for economics and the profession, while also providing an opportunity for early-career economists to connect across government, academia and the private sector.

Encouraging the Next Generation of Economists

ACE 2026 also included two High School Economics Lightning Sessions, giving secondary-school students the opportunity to present their own economics research as part of the conference program. The two sessions ran alongside the contributed research sessions on the first full day of the conference. The initiative received very positive feedback from participating students and teachers.

Prizes

ACE 2026 also recognised outstanding presentations through the Poster Prizes and STATA First-Time Presenter Prize.

Best Poster Prize

Tempa Gyeltshen (University of Canberra)
The Impact of Climate Change on Inflation and Financial Stability in South Asia

Highly Commended Poster Awards

Alex Pham (RMIT University)
Classifying Digital Assets for Regulation: A Property-Rights Taxonomy Using Cladistics
Jackson Smith (Deloitte Access Economics), Eva Avdic (Deloitte; Monash University), Sruthi Srikanthan (Deloitte), and Alexander Sweetman (Australasian Sleep Association)
The Economic Returns to Expanding Access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia in Australia: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Digital Delivery Model
Komal Arshad (Queensland University of Technology)
Costly Acts of Care: Prosocial Decision-Making at Funerals

STATA First-Time Presenter Prize

Matthew Trachevski (Australian Energy Market Commission)
Australia’s Evolving Energy Consumer

Further details of the research presented at ACE 2026 can be found in the full ACE 2026 Abstract Booklet, available here below.

ACE 2026 Abstract Booklet