Selwyn Button and Barry Sterland appointed to Productivity Commission

Selwyn Button (PwC Indigenous Consulting) and Barry Sterland (KPMG) have been appointed as commissioners at economic government advisory the Productivity Commission.

Commencing their five-year terms in July, Sterland and Button join among others former PwC partner Martin Stokie and deputy chair Alex Robson as full-time commissioners, the latter who was an associate partner at Ernst & Young.

Established in 1998, the Productivity Commission serves as the Australian government’s principal independent research and advisory body on economic policy and regulatory matters including as to their social and environmental dimensions.

A Gungarri man from Southwest Queensland, Button has most recently been the co-owner and Brisbane managing director of PwC’s Indigenous Consulting, with reports the Big Four firm’s stake in the business is presently up for grabs. He brings particular expertise in First Nations health and education, including through a number of high-level roles within the state public sector.

Sterland meanwhile joins after spending the past three years as a partner at KPMG, where he has served as global co-leader of the firm’s climate policy advisory business. Prior to joining KPMG, Sterland was general manager for policy & strategy at AGL, and also brings a lengthy public sector background, including as deputy secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Sterland and Button were appointed alongside Airlines for Australia and New Zealand chief executive Alison Roberts, while others at the Productivity Commission with a Big Four background in consulting include Stokie (14 years as a partner at PwC across two stints) and Robson, who spent time at both Deloitteand then EY prior to being appointed deputy chair in 2022.

“These appointments will help the Commission deliver on its mission of raising Australia’s productivity performance and prosperity in a rapidly evolving economic environment,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said of the latest round. “They will refresh and renew the leadership of the independent commission and help ensure it can be as strong and as effective as possible.”