Melissa Bray

An author, economist and former Commonwealth Treasury senior executive with experience as a freelance journalist, Melissa has worked on taskforces, reviews and inquiries covering competition, the financial system, tax, COVID-19 and productivity and has been a policy adviser to two Federal Treasury Ministers.

She has co-authored Power in Numbers a book that celebrates the achievements of 16 exceptional Australian women in economics over the past 200 years that was published by Melbourne University Press in 2026.

She also writes fortnightly opinion pieces for the Australian Financial Review.

Her first book, Australian Carillonists contains the stories of the musicians who play Australia’s carillons. It was Highly Commended in the 2025 ACT Literary Awards.