Christina Cifuentes is an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n expert in energy policy and markets, and was a board member of the

Australian Energy Regulator The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) is the regulator of the wholesale electricity and gas markets in Australia. It is part of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and enforces the rules established by the Australian Energy Market Co ...

, Australia's national energy market regulator, who was awarded an

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2022 Queens Birthday Honours list, for her significant service to economic and energy sector regulation, and to consumer protection.

Early life and career

Cifuentes was born in Spain, and spent her childhood and grew up within Sydney. She obtained a first class honours degree in law (Bachelor of Laws at the

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

), then followed by a Bachelor of Economics at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. She was head of legal policy at ASIC from 1990 – 1993 and has worked in both the private and public sectors, with experience at NSW Treasury, the

Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. T ...

, as well as the Australian Securities Commission. Cifuentes started a role as a Commissioner of the ACCC (

Australian Competition and Consumer commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...

) in 2013, for five years, and then her term was reappointed, in 2018. She was also a board member of the Australian Energy Regulator, and provided advice on policy on energy regulation, Cifuentes was director of the Hunter Water Corporation, NSW T Corp as well as First State Super Trustee Corporation. She was also the chair of the ACCC's committee for Communications and Infrastructure. She was employed at the Harrison Riedel Foundation, and is a member of the Finance Committee of the St Patrick's Church within the Rocks area of

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. She has given international talks on energy policy and markets.

Gender Equity

Cifuentes's work supporting and advocating for women and people from cultural and linguistically diverse communities was recognised while she was at the ACCC. She was involved in mentoring, within the Women in Energy international program. Cifuentes has been a mentor for the Women in Law Enforcement Strategies, Law student program, University of Notre Dame, as well as the NSW Premier's Council for Women. She commented on the need for women to have leadership roles on boards:

“Women are, and should be, considered equally capable as men in terms of being developed as future leaders. This has to happen from their very first job, not 15 to 20 years into their work-life, when companies start to cast around looking for potential female directors. So whilst the commitment to getting more women on boards may be there, organisations need to do a lot more in terms of developing the talent and capabilities of their female staff from the very beginning. They also need to provide opportunities for them to continue to work meaningfully if they decide to take up family obligations.”

Awards

* 2022 – Queens Birthday Honour List – AM * 2016 – UTS Alumni award for Excellence – law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cifuentes, Christina Pieta Living people 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women lawyers Australian women economists Members of the Order of Australia Spanish expatriates in Australia University of Technology Sydney alumni University of Sydney alumni