Karen Chester was appointed a Commissioner with the Productivity Commission in December 2013 and deputy chair in May 2016. Prior to her government appointments, she was a partner and global head of infrastructure at Mercer. Before joining Mercer, Ms Chester was a partner at Access Capital Advisers, having been the chief executive of its corporate predecessor Access Economics.
Ms Chester has also held directorships on several Australian infrastructure company boards and before moving to the private sector, she held senior economic policy roles in the Australian Treasury and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. In 2015, the Government appointed Ms Chester to chair an expert panel in undertaking a capability review of Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). She became deputy chair of ASIC in January 2019 and acting chair in October 2020.
She has a first class honours degree in economics from the University of Queensland, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Economics by the University in 2017.
