Competition regulator and national consumer law champion ACCC has welcomed the governor general’s recent appointment of Catriona Lowe as deputy chair, for a five-year term from Jan. 27.
Lowe will succeed Delia Rickard, who will finish her term on the same date after more than a decade with the ACCC.
She will chair the ACCC’s Compliance and Product Safety Committee and will participate in a range of other ACCC committees and boards.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said Lowe “is exceptionally well qualified” to be appointed to the role.
In Lowe’s “varied roles as a regulator, litigator, and consumer advocate, [she] has demonstrated a strong commitment to consumer issues and protection of consumer rights over many years,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
Lowe is currently a board member at the Australian Energy Regulator and served as the co-CEO of the Consumer Action Law Centre, CEO and treasurer of the Consumers’ Federation of Australia, and chair of the ACCC consumer consultative committee.
Cass-Gottlieb also lauded the contributions of departing deputy chair Delia Rickard, whose “formidable experience, wisdom, and passion” the ACCC chair said would be missed.
Rickard “has demonstrated a tireless focus on the welfare of consumers, especially vulnerable consumers,” Cass-Gottlieb said. “Her advocacy on scam prevention and product safety at the ACCC has been particularly important.”
Rickard was appointed as a board member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) in August.
