DATE: Tuesday, 18th March 2025
VENUE: Holding Redlich, Level 65/25 Martin Pl, Sydney
TIME: 12.00 pm – 1.45 pm AEDT
A light lunch will be served from midday to 12.30 pm
The future of public interest journalism continues to be in the spotlight as Australia seeks to navigate questions of sustainable media business models in the context of changing consumer behaviours, advertising trends, the threats of mis- and disinformation and the impacts of artificial intelligence. This event will bring together diverse voices to explore the efficacy of current and potential policy and regulatory interventions. The discussion will be shaped by the Finding a way forward for Australian News: An examination of local and international regulatory interventions research paper, jointly funded by the UTS Centre for Media Transition and the IIC Australian Chapter.
Confirmed speakers include:

Julie Eisenberg – Author, Finding a way forward for Australian News: An examination of local and international regulatory interventions
Julie has qualifications in Commerce and Law and held previous roles at NEHTA (Head of Communications and Public Affairs); NPS Medicine Wise (Executive Manager, Strategy and Communications) and at Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Australia (Head of Policy). Julie’s specialties include: visioning, driving change, turning strategy into action, public policy engagement, unconventional thinking. Her other current board positions are Director Vibewire and past board and industry advisory positions include: President, Australian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications, Director Digirtal Broadcasting Australia, Director, Telephone Information Services Standards Council, Advisory Board, Melbourne University Centre for Media and Communications Law.

Lenore Taylor – Editor, Guardian Australia
Lenore Taylor is an Australian journalist. She has been the editor of The Guardian since May 2016. She has won two Walkley awards and has twice won the Paul Lyneham award for excellence in press gallery journalism. She co-authored a book, Shitstorm, on the Rudd government’s response to the global economic crisis.

Professor Allan Fels AO – Chair, PIJI
Professor Allan Fels AO is a Professor of Law and of Economics at the Universities of Melbourne and Monash.
Professor Fels was Chair of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and its predecessor bodies, the Trade Practices Commission and the Prices Surveillance Authority from 1989 until 2003.
Professor Fels was the foundation Dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government from 2003 until 2013.
Professor Fels was Chair of Australia’s National Mental Health Commission from 2012 to 2018 and a Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Mental Health Victoria from 2019-2021. He is now Chair of Mind Australia and board member of the Haven Foundation.
He was Chair of the Commonwealth government’s Migrant Workers’ Taskforce and he has chaired and served on numerous Commonwealth, Victorian, New South Wales and Queensland reviews. Currently he is leading an independent review of roads tolling for the NSW Government. He chairs the Visy Australasia Governance Board.

George Siolis – Partner, RBB Economics
George is a Partner at RBB Economics in Melbourne. He has worked as a micro-economist for 30 years in the public and private sector in worked in both Australia and the UK.
George has acted as an expert economist in competition and regulatory proceedings before the Federal Court of Australia, the Australian Competition Tribunal and State Supreme Courts as well as in arbitrations. He has also participated in “hot tubs” with other expert economists. He is listed in Who’s Who Legal as a leading competition economist in Australia and is a member of the Competition and Consumer Committee (Business Law Section) of the Law Council of Australia.
George has advised on many of the most contentious mergers before the ACCC since he joined RBB Economics in 2009 and advises on matters relating to anti-competitive agreements and misuse of market power, including acting for TasPorts in the first section 46 matter bought by the ACCC since that prohibition was amended.
He advises in matters involving refusals to supply access to essential inputs or facilities, cartels, damage estimation and other matters involving valuations. He regularly advises on regulatory proceedings that raise competition issues and recently developed an economic methodology to assist the court arrive at a “fair and reasonable” price that was viewed favourably by the judge.
Industries that George has advised on include financial services, communications, aviation, pharmaceuticals, fast moving consumer goods, port and marine services, retailing, two-sided markets and digital platforms, manufacturing, transport and logistics, rail, and waste and water management.
George also regularly undertakes profitability assessments, examines whether firms have substantial market power, and considers the competitive effects of horizontal and vertical agreements, including advising Tooltechnic on the first authorisation of Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) in Australia.
Prior to joining RBB, George worked for Telstra and was also an economic consultant in the UK for eight years where he developed and led the communications practice at Europe Economics. George began his career at the Productivity Commission (formerly the Industry Commission) in their Canberra and Melbourne offices and was awarded the Commission’s first Overseas Development Award.
Moderated by:

Ian Robertson AO – Partner and Chair, Holding Redlich, Sydney
Ian is a corporate, commercial, media and regulatory lawyer who advises a wide range of Australian and overseas clients with particular emphasis on the media, advertising, automotive and renewable energy industries, as well as Government departments and agencies.
Ian joined Holding Redlich in Melbourne as a lawyer in 1989 and was appointed as a partner in 1990. In 1994 he relocated to Sydney to establish the firm’s Sydney office and he was the Managing Partner of the Sydney office until 30 June 2015. He was National Managing Partner from 1 July 2015 until 30 June 2023, and he has been the Chair of Holding Redlich since 1 July 2023.
Ian has been listed in The Best Lawyers in Australia since 2011 and is currently listed as a leading lawyer in the categories of Corporate Law, Entertainment Law and Defamation and Media Law.
In January 2018, Ian was appointed as an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the arts, particularly the Australian film industry and screen production sector, and to the law.
This event is coordinated by the IIC Australian Chapter and the Centre for Media Transition and kindly supported by
