Professor Kate Auty ‘Sustainability and the Environment’

Kate, the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, will talk about innovative new strategies for the ACT’s reporting on the State of the Environment which include: providing accurate, timely, and accessible information; evaluation; and increased community and government understanding of environmental and sustainability trends and interaction.        

Abstract

Professor Kate Auty was appointed in May 2016 as the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and Environment, an independent statutory position established by the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment Act 1993, which investigates complaints about the ACT's management of its environment and ecological sustainable development and delivers State of the Environment Reporting for the ACT.  Kate will talk about innovative new strategies for ACT's reporting on the State of the Environment.  These Reports have been prepared every four years since 1993 to:

• provide accurate, timely and accessible information to the community and government regarding the condition of the environment, underlying pressures, and sustainability trends;
• evaluate the effectiveness of community and government actions, policies, and initiatives in terms of progress towards sustainability; and 
• increase community and government understanding of environmental and sustainability trends and interactions.

Biography

Professor Kate Auty:  ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, and a Professorial Fellow with the University of Melbourne.

Other recent roles included Vice Chancellor’s Fellow (University of Melbourne), Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability (2009-2014), Chair of the Ministerial Reference Council on Climate Change Adaptation (Victoria 2008-2010), member of the Victorian Premier’s Climate Change Advisory Council (2009-2010), and a City of Melbourne Climate Change Ambassador developing the Future Melbourne Plan 2026 (2015). 

She was previously a member of the Advisory Board of AURIN, chair of the Advisory Board of NeCTAR, and a member of the Advisory Board of ACSEES (MDBA).

Kate was a director on the Board of the AWiA Ltd in 2017 and a member of the board of MSRF Ltd from 2016-2018. She chairs the Board of the Banksia Foundation Ltd.  In early 2018 Kate agreed to be co-opted to the Board of Sustainable Business Australia.