ADV — Board
Board and CEO counsel
Independent perspective on policy risk, strategic positioning, institutional constraints and the decisions that should be taken now.
Discuss a private briefing →Policy - Economic Research - Technology
Where government policy, capital and technology meet.
Hugh Hartigan helps boards, investors and institutions make high-stakes decisions in complex policy environments, turning national challenges into credible, executable strategy.
Experience spanningPolicy formation to capital allocation
GovernmentTreasury
InstitutionsParliament
ResearchHousing Australia
MarketsPrivate capital
The proposition
Policy expertise that changes the quality of the decision.
Australia's economic landscape is becoming harder to navigate. AI is accelerating technological and economic change, governments face growing pressure to sustain the social wage, and the boundaries between public policy, markets and technology are increasingly blurred.
Housing supply depends on planning, procurement, finance and industry capacity. Tax reform reshapes investment behaviour. AI and digital assets are challenging institutions and policy frameworks built for a different era.
Hugh works with CEOs and senior leaders navigating this complexity. He is a trusted adviser on the decisions that matter — helping leaders understand not only what is changing, but why it matters, what is politically and institutionally possible, and how to position themselves for what comes next.
The value is not access. It is judgment: rigorous analysis, deep institutional understanding and clear strategic advice in an increasingly complex world.
Advisory
For organisations facing consequential policy and market decisions.
Focused engagements for boards, chief executives, investors, industry bodies and public institutions. Each mandate is designed around a defined decision, risk or opportunity.
ADV — Policy
Policy strategy
Evidence-led policy positions that are economically rigorous, politically credible, publicly defensible and capable of implementation.
Discuss a strategic mandate →ADV — Research
Economic research
Original analysis, scenario development and executive synthesis that converts complex evidence into usable choices, drawing on a network of seasoned economists and market strategists.
Commission a research project →ADV — Rapid response
Policy war room
Senior support during a live budget, tax, regulatory, investment or industry-policy issue where timing and coherence matter.
Discuss rapid-response support →Speaking
Available to speak when the room needs judgment, not a set piece.
Hugh accepts selected speaking invitations for boards, conferences and leadership events. There is no catalogue of keynotes. The brief is the room, the question, and a clear point of view.
Book Hugh to speakAbout Hugh Hartigan
Experience inside the institutions that shape markets.
Hugh Hartigan is an economist, strategic adviser and speaker with two decades of experience across government, Parliament, housing research and the private sector.
Four core focuses run through the practice: public policy; AI, blockchain and digital assets; housing; and Indonesia.
Hugh has a strong interest in decentralised AI and the potential for AI to develop in a way that is open, competitive and broadly beneficial to society, rather than controlled by a small number of corporations.
He has been closely studying the Bittensor ecosystem and its subnets since 2023 and is an avid observer of the emergence of decentralised intelligence — from compute and inference to data and other digital commodities — and the applications and markets being built around them.
He also has a strong interest in Australia's economic relationship with Indonesia, which he sees as a significant and largely untapped economic opportunity for Australia.
- Extensive experience in Commonwealth Treasury
- Former Principal Economic and Policy Adviser to the Shadow Treasurer
- Former Head of Research, Data and Analytics, Housing Australia (NHFIC)
- Parliamentary and public-policy experience
- Current private-capital policy experience
- Four core focuses: public policy; AI, blockchain and digital assets; housing; Indonesia
Ideas and commentary
A public point of view on Australia's next decade.
Original essays, research and media commentary on the decisions reshaping government, capital and technology.
Modular solution for multi-generational living as housing crisis changes way we live
Modular homes are a speedy answer to multi-generational living. The constraint is still demand, and trust in the product.
Why the panic over data centres if golf courses use four times the water?
Fear should not overwhelm the facts, or stand in the way of an opportunity Australia cannot afford to miss.
How Government Makes Policy and Why Industry Matters
Hugh on The House’s Digital: how policy is actually made, and why industry has to be in the room.
Hugh writes on Bittensor and the meeting of AI and blockchain. Essays on decentralised intelligence and incentive networks.
Bittensor essaysDiscuss an engagement
Start with the decision that matters.
For advisory mandates, executive briefings, speaking engagements and selected media enquiries.
Email: info@hartigan.com.au
Telephone: +61 402 375 171
Limited availability
To protect independence and senior attention, Hartigan & Associates accepts a limited number of concurrent advisory mandates and retainers.