Five questions with Rebecca Billings

Rebecca Billings holds multiple senior regulatory roles in Australia and currently chairs the National Regulators Community of Practice (NRCoP). In this companion to our in-depth feature, she reflects on her journey, the evolution of regulatory work, and how she sees the future of the profession.

1. You’ve worked in consulting, Treasury, and now hold commissioner roles. What shaped how you think about regulation?

“Looking back, it looks very intentional… There is a very similar theme throughout everything that I’ve done all the way from high school, when I really enjoyed economics and I learned about what’s called the National Competition Policy Reforms… My first job was at an economic consultancy firm when those were really nascent. I got the opportunities right from the start of my career to work with really senior practitioners who had been in that space for a long time. From that point I realised that economics was only part of the story. I kept feeling like we were missing the human dimension.”

2. What changed between your first and second terms as a Commissioner at the Essential Services Commission?

“We went from never issuing a compulsory information gathering notice, a penalty notice, an enforceable undertaking… through to doing all of those things, including having a significant court outcome in the Victorian Supreme Court. We had to really demonstrate that we were to be taken seriously and that non-compliance would not be overlooked.”

“Now we’re thinking about what outcomes you’re trying to achieve and solving backwards from there. The regulatory posture that we have to take is much more nuanced. That means we are able to figure out where it’s good to engage and educate, and where we need to use the stick.”

3. How has economic regulation changed in the past decade?

“In some ways it hasn’t changed at all because the legislative frameworks… have been set in stone for, you know, coming up to 30 years now. But what has shifted is the environment around us.”

“There’s been a lot of focus now on going, OK, how can regulators within their frameworks both think about the impact on consumers from an outcomes perspective, but also how do we incentivise the regulated entities to be putting consumers at the heart of what they do.”

4. What does NRCoP need to become under your leadership?

“For me that is really about linking into what does it mean to be part of a community of practice, and that has to be about the concept of regulatory stewardship – how regulators can lift up out of their day-to-day practice and learn from each other, be inspired by each other and supported by each other to do the hard job that we do every day.”

5. Who inspires you?

“I’m much more about someone who’s on the ground and really trying to make a difference within their environment. Gerard Brody, who’s my ESCV Chair. Scott Hanson, who’s APVMA CEO. Sharon Deano, our Head of Enforcement at ESCV. Kim Weimer, our Executive Director of Digital Transformation at ESCOSA. These are people who have really stepped up to lead change – often in tough circumstances – and have made a big difference.”

Read the full article: A conversation with Rebecca Billings