ProfessorLynne Chester

BComm (Melb), MPubPolicy (Syd), PhD (UNSW)

Lynne's research spans two fields: energy and heterodox (non-conventional) economics.

She is recognised as a leading Australian scholar of French Régulation theory, a heterodox school of economic thought inspired by Marxian and (Original) Institutional Economics, to advance understanding of contemporary 'energy and society' issues. Her research contributes to debates on electricity price formation, household energy (un)affordability, energy (in)justice, energy problematisation, energy security and crises, the economic-energy-environment relation, and the economic regulation of energy sectors.

Her heterodox economics research focuses on the conceptualisation of heterodoxy, the reasons why its various schools have been marginalised within the economics discipline, and the insights from different schools to understand and propose solutions to contemporary pressing problems like climate change, the energy crisis, and inequality.

The topic of her PhD was the restructuring of the Australian electricity sector.

Her submission on wholesale electricity prices to the 2023 ACTU's Inquiry into Price Gouging and Unfair Pricing Practices was cited in the final report by the Inquiry's Chair, Professor Allan Fels.

Lynne was an independent member of the Australian Federal Government's 2011-12 Energy White Paper Reference Group, a former Board member of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (2009-15) and the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (2011-14), and former Chair of AGL's Customer Council (2012-15). In 2023, Lynne was the academic member of AusNet's 10-member Independent Stakeholder Reference Group to provide advice, from a customer and stakeholder perspective, on the company's 2026-31 expenditure, revenue, and pricing proposals to be approved by the Australian Energy Regulator.

Prior to academia, Lynne worked as a consultant to the Asian Development Bank, as a senior executive with two of Australia's largest utilities (EnergyAustralia and Sydney Water), as Chief of Staff to two Federal Government Ministers, and Economic Adviser to the South Australian Premier.