Vale Professor Ann Margaret Harding AO (18 May 1958 - 30 January 2023)
Written by Nick McNaughton based on a speech delivered by Alicia Payne MP in Parliament
Professor Ann Harding was a groundbreaking economist and the founder and director for 16 years of the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, NATSEM, at the University of Canberra. She was a woman of incredible intellect, drive and vision who had a deep commitment to quality research and putting evidence at the centre of public policy decision-making. She was committed to decision-makers putting the needs of, and impacts on, Australians at the centre of their thinking as they made policies that affect us all.
Professor Harding was a gifted and highly respected economist, social policy analyst, academic, researcher, and author. NATSEM became one of the foremost international centres of excellence for microsimulation, economic modelling, and policy evaluation.
She was a strong female leader who was a mentor to many and gave great opportunities to women around her. She was a person who cared deeply about other people.
Professor Harding was one of the early pioneers of microsimulation in Australia. This is the modelling of the impacts of policies, particularly tax and transfer policies, on households and individuals. She supported others in putting analysis of poverty and inequality at the centre of the public policy discussion. Through NATSEM, she contributed to building the capability for this type of modelling in Australia and building a community of people that continue this work today. Many in the tight-knit community of microstimulators across academia and the Public Service, particularly Treasury and the Department of Social Services, have Professor Harding’s work at NATSEM to thank for building that capability.
She fostered an environment in which wonderful work was done but also from which many relationships, professional and personal, have continued to this day. So many people were part of that positive culture. After graduating from the University of Sydney with an honours degree in economics, Professor Harding worked as a journalist and then at the Parliamentary Library and in the Public Service. She then went to the London School of Economics, where she completed her PhD on the topic 'Lifetime income distribution and redistribution in Australia: Applications of a dynamic cohort micro simulation model', winning a British Council scholarship.
After that that she established NATSEM at the University of Canberra in 1993. She was just 34 and one of the youngest women ever appointed as a professor. At the time she said, as quoted in the Canberra Times:
“The reason for making the centre an independent institution is that it will be available as a national resource to anyone who wants to use it for strategic planning and to help improve the level of social and economic policy-making. It's going to help construct a much more informed debate about social policy.”
And it did. At the time, the then Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services, Brian Howe, stated:
“There is currently a critical lack of information about the actual impact of government policy and programs on the people we are seeking to help … The models being developed by NATSEM will substantially fill that void and will help governments to target health and welfare services so they better meet the needs of all Australians.”
The impact of NATSEM was seen in some of the biggest policy debates of the last few decades, including the GST and the impact of moving sole parents onto the unemployment benefit. NATSEM's work really highlighted the terrible impacts of the coalition's 2014 budget. They also provided incredible information on health, regional modelling, effective marginal tax rates, childcare and education and contributed to wage cases.
Professor Harding was instrumental in founding the International Microsimulation Association and was its first President. She put Australia’s work on microsimulation on the world stage, and NATSEM became known as one of the major institutions globally that developed microsimulation methods.
In 2016, Ann was awarded the Order of Australia for ‘distinguished service to education in the field of applied economics and social policy analysis, as an academic, researcher and author, and to professional organisations. She co-authored or authored over 300 books, chapters, articles, papers and commissioned reports. Her ResearchGate profile lists 138 publications and 2,207 citations.
Ann was the daughter of Phillip and Margaret Harding (both dec) and a dearly loved and loving mother of James and Jack and their partners Zoe and Tiffany. She was the former wife of John. She was a much-loved sister of John and sister-in-law of Tracy and a greatly loved sister-in-law of Rosemary and Rob, and Rhonda.
Reflections by those who knew Professor Harding
“Ann’s desire to make complex computer models of government social welfare and taxation systems accessible to academics, journalists and charity organisations, at a time when they were normally only available to well funded governments, was a great innovation. It’s easy to forget that Ann had this ambition when computers were just starting to become commonplace in homes and offices and the internet was barely a thing.”
“Ann inspired her teams to deliver and she had a gift for identifying talented people. Her nurturing, coaching and mentoring helped to develop many into leaders in their fields. She was especially good at instilling confidence in the women who worked with her. For so many of us, working with Ann had a lasting impact on our lives and careers.”
“NATSEM analysis and Ann’s advice were highly valued by journalists, lobby groups, peak bodies, political advisors and politicians - government, opposition and crossbench. Prior to the introduction of the GST in July 2000, Ann was constantly answering questions from those trying to assess the merits of the tax and compensation measures being proposed by the Government.”
“Ann was able to make a great contribution by drawing on her clear understanding of how government worked, how academia worked, and how the media worked. NATSEM was established occupying an unusual position somewhere in the uncharted area between mainstream academia and government. While this promoted the policy relevance of research, the priorities of major government clients and academia seldom mesh neatly. Ann had to work hard at steering a course that maintained a balance between these two often different demands. She was adept at doing so. Drawing on her earlier experience in journalism, Ann was also remarkable for the weight she placed on publicising the work, selling the value of the techniques, and contributing a great deal to the prominence of this field of policy analysis.”
