Karen was appointed to the Board of the newly re-established Queensland Productivity Commission (QPC) as a Commissioner, in April 2025. 

She brings to the role a wealth of experience in public policy, leadership, and stakeholder engagement, built over a career in senior management positions across the Commonwealth and Queensland public sectors. 

Prior to joining the QPC, Karen was Head of Productivity in Queensland Treasury where she led the Office of Productivity and Red Tape Reduction (OPRTR), providing research, analysis and regulatory advice to support evidence-based policy development, with a significant focus on housing issues and the revitalisation of National Competition Policy. Before joining Treasury in 2021, she was the former Chair and Principal Commissioner of the Queensland Productivity Commission, where she led the Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Market in Queensland. 

Karen has spent much of her career at the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) where she led the Bank’s Queensland Office and international finance function, involving engagement with multilateral institutions including the G20 and International Monetary Fund.  

Karen is an economist with a Bachelor of Economics (First Class Honours) and a PhD in Economics from The University of Queensland. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) Executive Fellows Program. 

Karen is a strong advocate of the role economists can play in helping to deliver improved community outcomes through data-led policy advice. Karen is currently a member of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) Council on Economic Policy and the Institute of Public Administration Australia Council (Queensland). Karen is also active in promoting economic literacy and career pathways in economics through her role as an advisor to the Queensland Economics Teachers’ Association and membership of The University of Queensland’s School of Economics Advisory Board, The Economic Society of Australia (Queensland) and Women in Economics Network.