Julian Disney

Prof Julian Disney is Chair of the Australian Press Council, which is the main regulatory body for newspapers and magazines. He is also Chair of the National Affordable Housing Summit group, National Co-Chair of Anti-Poverty Week and National Chair of the Community Tax Forum. He is National Convenor of TaxWatch, which is a community information service on tax issues, and of the Neighbours Program, which works to strengthen engagement between community leaders in Australia and neighbouring Asian countries. He is also Chair of the Council of the Energy and Water Ombudsman in New South Wales (EWON).

Prof Disney has previously been Coordinator of the Sydney Welfare Rights Centre where he worked for six years assisting people who were unemployed or experiencing other forms of hardship. He has also been President of the NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) and the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS). He has been World President of the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) which represents social welfare organisations from more than 80 countries.

Prof Disney has been a full-time NSW Law Reform Commissioner and Chair of the NSW Ministerial Task Force on Affordable Housing. He was a member for seven years of the Australian Government's Economic Planning Advisory Council (EPAC) and has been chair or member of national advisory committees in fields such as education, employment and training, social security, public administration, literacy, housing, superannuation and immigration. He is currently chairing an independent review of the Job Seeker Compliance System for the Australian Parliament.

During the last two decades he has been a policy consultant to a number of social welfare and business groups, a regular speaker at national and international conferences, and a frequent media commentator. He has also been the principal author or editor of books and articles relating to aspects of the legal profession, taxation, housing, social welfare, governance, national development and international organisations.

In 1994, Julian Disney was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to the development of economic and social welfare policy, and to the law. In 1999, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LL.D) by the University of New South Wales.