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The question “why not” has driven Michele Bullock ever higher through the ranks of the Reserve Bank over her near-40 year career there, and ultimately into the job of governor.
That she is the first woman in the role of governor in the institution’s history will not be lost on her. It’s actually her second first, after becoming deputy governor in April last year – the first woman with that title in the bank’s 63-year history.
Michele Bullock will take the reins of the RBA in September.Credit: Jessica Hromas
Bullock has spent her entire career with the central bank, joining in 1985 after interning there during the honours year of her economics degree from the University of New England.
But Bullock was the surprise deputy governor, appointed in a sliding doors moment. She was made deputy after Guy Debelle stepped down from the job – something Bullock said she never expected him to do.
“I wasn’t sure I would ever be in this position,” she told her alma mater in a rare interview following her appointment as deputy last year.
Asked whether becoming the first woman to be deputy governor felt groundbreaking, Bullock said she was focused on doing what she could to foster more talented young women.
“I am quite conscious that a lot of people will look at it that way, so I want to make sure that I do a good job and that I am conscious of the young women coming up around me,” she said.
“We are deliberately trying to raise the number of women in management. I am very conscious that I provide them with the realisation that they, too, can move up through the organisation. I do take that seriously.”
Bullock was born in Melbourne but moved to Armidale in regional NSW when she was nine, turning down an opportunity to study medicine at the University of New South Wales before choosing economics at her local university.
Bullock has held several senior positions at the bank over her career, and said her approach to new opportunities at the RBA has always been to think: “why not?”
“I always wanted to make a good contribution and always felt, as I moved up through the organisation, that I was doing so,” she said.
“I have always taken the view that if opportunities present themselves, you should have a crack.
“For me, it has always been about just getting new experiences and enjoying what I’m doing, and part of that has been not being afraid to take a step somewhere different.”
While the opportunities within the bank have been plentiful, Bullock said the public service aspect of working at the RBA was the most fulfilling part of her job.
“It’s offered a great breadth of things for me contribute to and, underlying it all, is that it’s in the public interest, which works for me,” she said.
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