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11/08/2026

Regulator Leadership Cohort

The Regulator Leadership Cohort consists of heads of Commonwealth regulators or those responsible for a significant regulatory system or function in a Commonwealth department.

Its purpose is to support the Government's regulatory reform agenda and regulatory stewardship, coordination and capability uplift.

The Cohort’s work is guided by 7 priority areas:

  1. Artificial intelligence - The safe and responsible regulation of AI together with the use of AI as a regulatory tool.
  2. RegTech and ICT solutions - Exploring and leveraging RegTech and ICT solutions for regulators.
  3. Collaboration - Fostering greater collaboration between regulatory policy makers and regulators.
  4. Information sharing - Supporting information sharing between regulators.
  5. Skills and capability - Uplifting regulatory skills and capability.
  6. Trust and accountability - Building and fostering trust with regulated entities and the community.
  7. Regulatory powers/enforcement - Navigating adjustments to regulatory posture and sharing compliance and enforcement approaches.

Meeting communiques

A communique is published after each meeting setting out discussions and agreements.

Working groups

The Regulator Leadership Cohort has established working groups to help deliver its priorities. Each group is led by a cohort champion and brings together senior regulatory officials from across the Commonwealth.

Regulator Skills and Capability Working Group

The Regulator Skills and Capability Working Group aims to strengthen the skills and capability of Commonwealth regulatory professionals. It leads cross-agency initiatives that improve the regulatory system and support the development of the regulatory workforce, including future regulatory leaders.

The working group’s priority, agreed by the cohort and co-champions, is to develop a regulator capability framework. The framework will establish a standard set of core regulatory skills, attributes, behaviours and knowledge for regulatory professionals across the Australian Public Service.

Champions

The co-champions for this working group are:

  • Victoria Anderson, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
  • Shane Gaddes, Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
  • Saxon Rice, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Skills Quality Authority.

Data and Digital Ready Regulators Working Group

The purpose of the Data and Digital Ready Regulators Working Group is to support regulators to build stronger data and digital capability by:

  • delivering co-designed workshops that build knowledge and understanding of data and digital technologies, including how to adopt them safely to improve regulatory outcomes
  • supporting the identification and sharing of useful data and datasets across regulators to improve outcomes and streamline regulatory engagement
  • identifying regulatory and capability barriers that limit the effective use of data and digital technologies.

Champions

The co-champions for this working group are:

  • Rob Hefern, Commissioner of Taxation, Australian Taxation Office
  • Hamish Hansford, Deputy Secretary, Home Affairs.

Pocket guide

The New Head of Regulator Pocket Guide is a collection of ten key tips and tricks from current and former regulators on what they wish they knew on their first day.

New Head of Regulator Pocket Guide

Contact

For further information, contact APSRegulatoryReform@finance.gov.au.

Membership

A list of all current Cohort members.

Terms of Reference

The cohort’s Terms of Reference, published February 2026.
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