Helen Mitchell

Helen Mitchell is an economist and former diplomat, most recently a senior expert providing strategic advice to the Prime Minister and rest of government.

She is a Sir Roland Wilson Scholar at the Australian National University doing targeted research to help solve national policy challenges. Her research explores economic security and statecraft in a new global order – one in which Australia faces sharper trade-offs between sovereignty, security and prosperity. Helen has developed a framework to guide policymakers through these issues to find policies that can drive prosperity and add to regional deterrence and influence, which will help Australia manage threats and develop new energy and technology systems.

Helen is also an Economic Security Non-Resident Fellow at the US Studies Centre where she has published an Economic Security report that defines what ‘Economic Security’ is and how to achieve it.

Previously, Helen advised the Australian Government on economic security issues at the Commonwealth Treasury. She is a published economist and she served Australia in diplomatic positions in New York, South Africa and Mexico.

Helen holds a first class honours degree in Economics and an Arts degree from the University of Melbourne. She recently completed Leadership training at the Harvard Business School. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese.