Nine people, one rate

On Tuesday 29 September 2026 the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Board raised the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.60 per cent, the fourth rise of 2026. The decision was unanimous, and the new rate takes effect on 30 September ¹².

The Board that made it has nine members. Six are non-executive members appointed by the Treasurer; the other three are the Governor, the Deputy Governor and the Treasury Secretary. The Board decides by majority, with the Chair holding a casting vote if one is needed, and it publishes an unattributed record of votes on decision day ³.

This article asks whether the Reserve Bank is really independent, and what the people who set the rate are paid. It answers both from the Bank's own pages, its annual reports, the RBA Review, the Reserve Bank Act and the Remuneration Tribunal, with the ABS, the Treasurer's releases and company pages. It makes no allegation against any member. It sets out who the nine are, how they are chosen, what is and is not published about their interests, how they voted this year, what they are paid, and the safeguards the Bank points to.

In short: the Act sets the Bank's objectives and makes the Treasury Secretary's independence on the Board explicit, and it also keeps several ties to the executive. Both are set out below, each with the other side on the record.

01The nine

Michele Bullock has been Governor since 18 September 2023; her term runs to 17 September 2030. Andrew Hauser is Deputy Governor, to 11 February 2029. Jenny Wilkinson PSM, Secretary to the Treasury, has sat as an ex officio member since 16 June 2025. The six non-executive members are Marnie Baker AM and Renee Fry-McKibbin (both to 28 February 2030), Carolyn Hewson AO (to 28 February 2027, the next to expire), Iain Ross AO (to 31 August 2028), Bruce Preston (since 1 March 2026, to 28 February 2031) and Melinda Cilento (since 1 September 2026, replacing Ian Harper AO) ³⁴.

On the Bank's own board page, none of the nine lists a current bank directorship. Three list current roles connected to finance or wealth. Ms Baker is employer representative director of Australian Retirement Trust, a superannuation fund, and chairs its Technology and Transformation Committee. Ms Cilento is Deputy Chair of Australian Unity. Governor Bullock chairs the Financial Markets Foundation for Children. Ms Hewson's only listed current company role is non-executive director of CSL ³. Ms Baker became a trustee director of Australian Retirement Trust on 7 February 2025, three weeks before the Monetary Policy Board began ⁵. The Board's Code of Conduct allows it, and no conflict is alleged ⁶.

Earlier careers are on the public record. Ms Baker was Managing Director and CEO of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank from 2018 to 2024 and Deputy Chair of the Australian Banking Association; the Treasurer's appointment release of 16 December 2024 says she "recently" held those roles ⁷⁸. The RBA describes Ms Hewson as "a former investment banker with over 35 years' experience in the finance sector". She was previously an executive director of Schroders Australia and is a former director of BHP, Stockland, BT Investment Management, Westpac, AGL Energy, the Australian Gas Light Company, CSR and AMP; the page gives no dates for those roles and lists all of them as former ⁹.

Ms Cilento was a director of Woodside Petroleum until 1 May 2019 and of Wesfarmers General Insurance until June 2014, was Head of Economics at Invesco Australia, worked with Treasury and the IMF, and was deputy chief executive of the Business Council of Australia. On Australian Unity's board she sits on the Investment Committee. Australian Unity transferred its banking business to Bank Australia effective 23 November 2025, before she joined the Bank's Board ¹⁰.

Mr Hauser had been with the Bank of England "for over 30 years" when the RBA announced his appointment on 27 November 2023, and was its Executive Director for Markets ¹¹. Mr Preston's earlier roles, on the RBA's biography, include "Senior Economic Research Advisor to the Reserve Bank of Australia and consultant to the Australian Treasury" ¹². Iain Ross was President of the Fair Work Commission, earlier an Assistant Secretary of the ACTU and a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, and now chairs the Net Zero Economy Authority ¹³.

These roles are listed because they are public and bear on who sits on the Board. No conflict is alleged against any member.

02Who chooses them

The Treasurer appoints the six non-executive members: the Bank's board page says so in as many words, "six non-executive members, who are appointed by the Treasurer" ³. New appointments now run through a panel. The RBA Review's recommendation was that "A panel comprising the Treasury Secretary, the Governor and a third party should recommend options for suitable candidates to the Treasurer." That puts two of the Board's own voting members, the Governor and the Treasury Secretary, on the panel that advises on the six who vote beside them. The panel is by design: the Review recommended it (recommendation 8.5) ¹⁴.

The Review asked for expertise in four areas, "open-economy macroeconomics, the financial system, labour markets, or the supply side of the economy", and for selection with "regard to avoiding material conflicts of interest" ¹⁴.

The first appointments did not all come through the new process. Four of the six first external members (Carolyn Hewson, Ian Harper, Iain Ross and Alison Watkins) were carried over from the old Reserve Bank Board after "consultation"; only Ms Baker and Ms Fry-McKibbin were new. The Treasurer's release of 16 December 2024 says: "Following that consultation, Carolyn Hewson AO, Ian Harper AO, Iain Ross AO and Alison Watkins AM agreed to serve on the Monetary Policy Board." ⁷

Mr Preston, who joined on 1 March 2026, was appointed on the advice of a panel of the Treasury Secretary, the Governor and former Treasury and Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Martin Parkinson AC PSM. The shortlist drew on the 2024 expression-of-interest process, and the Opposition was consulted ¹².

Ms Cilento joined on 1 September 2026, replacing Ian Harper ³⁴.

03The Treasury's vote

The Treasury Secretary sits and votes. The RBA Review, whose report recommended the Board's design, put it this way:

The Review acknowledges that inclusion of the Treasury Secretary as a voting member is unusual

The Review's own comparison was that "In a few cases, an official attends but does not vote (for example the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand)." It kept the seat all the same, and gave its reason: "the Review is confident that a Treasury Secretary has not been directed in recent decades to argue the position of the Treasurer" ¹⁴.

The Bank's progress report on the Review says: "The independence of the Secretary to the Treasury in undertaking their role on the Board was made explicit by legislation and is reflected in the updated Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy." ¹⁵

Ms Wilkinson attended the March and May meetings, as every member did. The Minutes attribute no votes, so this article does not say how the Treasury Secretary, or any member, voted ²²²⁴.

The Bank and the Government also have a written agreement, the Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy (December 2023, and July 2025). In the 2025 version the Government "recognises the role that sound fiscal management plays in achieving the Monetary Policy Board's objectives", and the Bank and the Government, through the Treasury, "commit to working together to enhance their understanding of prevailing macroeconomic conditions and the impact that monetary and fiscal policy settings have in influencing these conditions." The commitment is to shared understanding, not to joint action or a fiscal rule ¹⁶.

04The override that stayed

The Treasurer can still override the Bank. Section 11 of the Reserve Bank Act survived the 2024 reforms; only s 11(1) was repealed. Under s 11(4), "the Governor-General, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, may, by order, determine the policy to be adopted by the Bank", and the order is tabled in Parliament ¹⁵¹⁷. THE RORT read the Act as compiled on 1 March 2025.

The RBA Review had recommended removing the power. The Bank's own progress report records that the Government did not do it: "The Government's legislative response to the Review did not implement the Review's recommendations to remove the Treasurer's power to override RBA decisions, or to remove the RBA's power in the Banking Act 1959 to determine the lending policy of banks." ¹⁵

The other side is on the public record. Former governors and treasurers of both parties (Macfarlane, Fraser, Costello and Keating) argued in February 2024 that the power should stay as a democratic check. The ABC reported that Treasurer Jim Chalmers had "quickly accepted" the Review's recommendation to strip it, and that reviewer Gordon de Brouwer said it had never been used (the ABC's paraphrase) ¹⁸.

The sources THE RORT used for this article do not give the Treasurer's reasons for keeping the power. That question is published in the article "The grill" (T9).

05Interests: what is published, what is private

Only the Governor's and the Deputy Governor's declarations of material personal interests are published, and they are published voluntarily. The Bank's accountability page says: "These declarations are made voluntarily to promote openness and accountability and are made in addition to the declarations to the Treasurer that are required in terms of the Reserve Bank Act." ¹⁹

Every member must also give the Treasurer a statement of interests each year. It is confidential, and it is not published for anyone, including the six non-executive members and the Treasury Secretary ¹⁹⁶. The RBA Review recorded the same gap: "Only the declarations of the Governor and Deputy Governor are made public (on a voluntary basis)." ¹⁴ That leaves the declarations of the other seven of the nine unpublished. This article is about the rules, not about any member's finances, and does not report what any declaration contains.

The Act lets a member with a material personal interest in a monetary policy matter be present and vote, provided the interest was disclosed in writing to the Treasurer within the previous 12 months and has not substantially changed (s 7D). Section 7D(2) says the member "may do either or both of the following: (a) be present ... (b) vote on the matter at the meeting." The Code of Conduct states the purpose: "This disclosure enables members to discuss and decide monetary and financial system stability policies notwithstanding a material personal interest in the outcome." Those disclosures to the Treasurer are confidential ¹⁷⁶.

The other side is the Code of Conduct (April 2025). It bars members and their "associated entities" from foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives and from "active trading" ("frequent and speculative"), and from any transaction in the blackout period, which runs from the release of board papers, usually 10.00 am on the Friday before a meeting, to 5.00 pm on decision day. It bars paid or unpaid work for a bank or credit licensee, requires members to advise the Governor of any material interest in an authorised deposit-taking institution or other financial entity, and bars participation in superannuation or managed fund deliberations where a conflict could be perceived ("governance of the entity's investment strategy" is allowed) ⁶. The RBA Review had recommended stronger conflict rules (recommendation 10.6), and the Bank reports that it addressed this "through updates to the codes of conduct for the RBA's boards in 2023 and 2025" ¹⁴¹⁵.

The bank bar is worded carefully. Section 25AB(2) of the Act bars the appointment of an external member who is a director, officer or employee of an authorised deposit-taking institution; the continuing ban for all members is in the Code, which says "a member is not permitted to be a director, officer or employee of an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution" ¹⁷⁶. The Bank's progress report puts it this way, in its own sentence: "Under Section 25AB(2) of the Reserve Bank Act, members of the Board may not be a director, officer or employee of an authorised deposit-taking institution" ¹⁵.

The Code as published has no cooling-off period for previous roles or for work after leaving; its only duty after a term ends is confidentiality ⁶. That finding covers the board Code only. THE RORT did not read the RBA staff code, which also binds the Governor and the Deputy Governor.

06How they voted in 2026, and why

The Bank announces each decision at 2.30 pm; the change takes effect the following day ¹³⁷. The 2026 record, from the Bank's media releases:

3 February (effective 4 February): the Board raised the cash rate 25 basis points to 3.85 per cent. "Today's policy decision was unanimous." ²⁰

17 March (effective 18 March): the cash rate rose to 4.10 per cent. The Bank's statement: "Today's policy decision was made by majority: five members voted to increase the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.10 per cent; four members voted to leave the cash rate target unchanged at 3.85 per cent." ²¹

The March Minutes record what the four argued. A minority "reiterated that inflation was too high and that a further tightening in monetary policy would probably be required", but "felt there was merit in delaying any tightening of monetary policy until the potential effects of the current conflict in the Middle East become clearer". They also "placed more weight on the weaker-than-expected consumption outcome and slowing in the growth in unit labour costs in the December quarter 2025" ²².

5 May (effective 6 May): the cash rate rose to 4.35 per cent. The Bank's statement: "Today's policy decision was made by majority: eight members voted to increase the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent; one member voted to leave the cash rate target unchanged at 4.10 per cent." ²³

The May Minutes record that one member "placed more weight on the arguments for leaving the cash rate target unchanged, judging that capacity pressures prevailing before the conflict were somewhat less than the staff had assessed", and that holding "while awaiting additional evidence on how the Australian economy would respond to the conflict, would best balance the risks to the Board's two objectives". The member "noted that this approach was consistent with that adopted by other central banks". "Most members also judged that an increase in the cash rate target at this meeting would best balance the Board's two objectives, accepting that the shorter term trade-off between these had worsened." In the case for holding, members also noted that "several other central banks had chosen to hold their policy rates unchanged pending greater clarity on the likely effects of the conflict", and that waiting "could be an appropriate course of action" ²⁴.

Both dissents, as the Minutes record them, were about timing and evidence, not about the tool. In March the minority said a further tightening would probably be required and wanted to delay it. In May the dissenter's case was to hold while awaiting evidence ²²²⁴.

16 June (effective 17 June): the Board held at 4.35 per cent, unanimously, saying "The latest data show that headline and underlying inflation are still too high", that the unemployment rate "was higher than expected in April", and that "growth in demand needs to slow to reduce capacity pressures and help bring inflation back to target." ²⁵

11 August (effective 12 August): the Board held at 4.35 per cent, unanimously. It said inflation was "not expected to return to around the midpoint of the target range until late 2027 and there are upside risks to this projection", and it kept further rises open, "including increasing the cash rate target further if upside risks materialise." ²⁶

29 September (effective 30 September): the Board raised the cash rate to 4.60 per cent. "Today's policy decision was unanimous." ²

THE RORT read the attendance lists in the March and May Minutes. All nine members attended both the March and the May meetings, including the Treasury Secretary: Bullock, Hauser, Baker, Fry-McKibbin, Harper, Hewson, Preston, Ross and Wilkinson. Ian Harper, not Melinda Cilento, was then a member. The Minutes attribute no votes, so this article does not say how any member voted ²⁴²². Mr Preston joined on 1 March 2026, after the February decision, and Ms Cilento on 1 September 2026, so 29 September was her first decision ³.

07One member's own view

On 22 September, a week before the decision, Iain Ross, a Monetary Policy Board member, gave a speech in his own name:

The overall thesis is that there is no evidence of the emergence of a wage-price spiral in the present circumstances and recent data suggest such an outcome is unlikely.

Dr Ross also said: "I am expressing my own views. I am not purporting to speak on behalf of the Monetary Policy Board or the RBA." His argument was that the 1970s mechanisms (comparative wage justice and quarterly indexation) are gone, and that enterprise agreements lock wages until they expire ²⁷.

Beside it, the Board's own statement on 29 September: "The Board remains focused on ensuring that high inflation does not become embedded. To achieve this, growth in aggregate demand needs to remain subdued for a period to reduce capacity pressures and bring inflation back to target." ² THE RORT does not claim the two conflict. The Board's statement speaks of high inflation becoming embedded; Dr Ross's speech is about a wage-price spiral, and he says he does not speak for the Board.

THE RORT does not know whether Dr Ross attended the 29 September meeting. The Minutes are due on Tuesday 13 October 2026 at 11.30 am, and the March and May Minutes listed who attended ²⁸²⁴.

08What they are paid

Governor Bullock's total remuneration in 2024/25 was $1,195,275: base salary $987,132, other benefits $31,457, superannuation $132,457 and long service leave $44,229. There was no bonus: the Bonuses column shows a dash for every key management person in 2024/25 ²⁹. Deputy Governor Hauser's total was $879,714 in 2024/25, his first full year, and $356,166 in 2023/24, a part year from his appointment on 12 February 2024 ²⁹³⁰.

Non-executive members are paid what the Remuneration Tribunal determines (s 25AG of the Act). The Tribunal sets the fee at $94,190 a year, excluding superannuation (2025 determination), unchanged from 1 July 2026. As paid in 2024/25, each non-executive member received $30,744 plus $3,536 superannuation for 1 March to 30 June 2025. Ms Hewson, Dr Ross, Ian Harper and Alison Watkins were also paid Reserve Bank Board fees of $57,168 plus $6,574 superannuation for July 2024 to February 2025. These are part-time Tribunal rates, and no bonuses are paid ³¹²⁹. Ms Wilkinson is not paid for board service ²⁹.

The Governor's pay is set differently. Her terms and conditions, including remuneration, are "determined by the Governance Board" (s 24A), inside the Remuneration Tribunal's principal executive office framework, whose top band is "PEO band E from $645,570" with no ceiling. The employing body sets total remuneration within the band, and it "may not be varied, except with the written consent of the Tribunal". Which band the Governor sits in was not found ³²¹⁷. On the RBA's own account, the Reserve Bank Board's Remuneration Committee advised the Board on Governor and Deputy Governor pay until 28 February 2025. Iain Ross sat on that committee from 7 June 2023 to 28 February 2025. That is a fact about his role; no impropriety is suggested ¹³²⁹.

Against wages: the ABS put median employee earnings in main job at $1,425 a week in August 2025, which over 52 weeks is $74,100. In May 2026, full-time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings were $2,083.70 (seasonally adjusted, up 3.7 per cent), which over 52 weeks is about $108,352. The ABS series exclude employer superannuation ³⁴. THE RORT's calculation from the Annual Report and those two ABS releases: the Governor's 2024/25 base salary of $987,132 is about 13.3 times median employee earnings ($987,132 divided by $74,100) and about 9.1 times annualised full-time adult ordinary time earnings ($987,132 divided by $108,352). The comparison uses base salary, not the $1,195,275 package, because the package includes superannuation and leave accruals that the ABS series exclude. The periods also differ: 2024/25 salary, an August 2025 median, a May 2026 average. THE RORT's calculation of what the four 2026 rises would mean for the same hypothetical loan on two incomes is in the article "Who pays for the rises".

The other side on pay: the Remuneration Tribunal decided on no adjustment for public offices in its jurisdiction from 1 July 2026, accepting a real cut: "While this approach will result in a reduction in real remuneration, it preserves existing relativities". Whether that freeze applies to the Governor's package, which the Governance Board sets inside a Tribunal band, was not confirmed ³³.

09How they answer

The record of votes is published at 2.30 pm on decision day, unattributed ³. The Minutes of the discussion are published two weeks after each meeting: "Minutes of the monetary policy discussion of the Board are published two weeks after each meeting." The Minutes of the 29 September meeting are listed on the RBA's release calendar for Tuesday 13 October 2026 at 11.30 am ²⁸. The Governor gives a press conference after every meeting, and external members commit to at least one public engagement a year ³⁵.

The Governor appeared before the House Economics Committee on 6 February and 18 September 2026 and at Senate Estimates on 4 June 2026, and commits, in the Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy rather than in statute, to appear twice a year. Supplementary Budget Estimates for the Treasury portfolio sit on 28 and 29 October 2026; RBA attendance is not yet posted. The House Economics Committee's review of Australia's four major banks has its next hearing on 12 November 2026 ³⁶.

The Board's next decisions are on 3 November and 8 December 2026 ³⁷.

The unanswered questions this article raises, on attributing votes, on how many members have voted after disclosing an interest to the Treasurer, on publishing all nine declarations and on the Treasurer's reasons for keeping s 11, are published in THE RORT's article "The grill". Answers will be added there, and here, as they arrive.

10The other side

The Bank's case is substantial. The dual mandate is in statute (Treasury Laws Amendment (Reserve Bank Reforms) Act 2024, s 9B): price stability and full employment, with 2 to 3 per cent inflation as the goal under the Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy. The Bank's overarching objective (s 8AA) is "the economic prosperity and welfare of the people of Australia" ³⁸¹⁶.

On structure, the Treasury Secretary's independence on the Board "was made explicit by legislation" ¹⁵, and the Review was "confident that a Treasury Secretary has not been directed in recent decades to argue the position of the Treasurer" ¹⁴. Votes are published the same day, Minutes two weeks after each meeting, and the Governor holds a press conference after every meeting ³²⁸³⁵. Of the Review's 51 recommendations, 41 had been addressed by December 2025; the Expert Advisory Group first met on 3 June 2026 (11 economists, and only that meeting is listed) ³⁵. The Governor commits to report twice a year to the House Economics Committee ³⁶.

On appointments, Mr Preston was chosen on the advice of a panel with the Opposition consulted ¹². On conflicts, the Code bars transactions in the blackout period around each meeting, bars bank roles, and requires members to advise the Governor of any material interest in an authorised deposit-taking institution or other financial entity ⁶. The bank bar on sitting members is in the Code, and s 25AB(2) bars such appointments ¹⁷. On s 11, the power has, on reviewer Gordon de Brouwer's account as the ABC reported it, never been used, and former governors and treasurers of both parties wanted it kept as a democratic check ¹⁸. On pay, there is no bonus, the Governor's package is set by the Governance Board inside a Tribunal framework and cannot be varied without the Tribunal's written consent, and the Tribunal's 2026 decision accepts a real cut ²⁹³²³³.

What this article does not show: it does not show that any member voted, or was asked to vote, in a particular way, and it makes no allegation against any member. It reports the structure the law and the Bank's own pages describe. Whether that structure is independent enough is a judgment; the facts above are the material for it.

If it's a rort, we cover it.