Series Guide: Oral Histories

Main

Collection summaryThe Reserve Bank of Australia’s Oral History collection comprises records derived from internally conducted in-depth oral history interviews with the Bank’s past Governors and Deputy Governors.

Available as audio recordings and with accompanying subject-indexed transcripts, the collection contains information from interviewees about significant events in the nation’s economic and social history and the Bank’s function and responsibility in these events. The interviews provide insights into policymaking, leadership and the evolution of the Reserve Bank as an institution, as well as detailed commentary on the Bank’s response to domestic and international economic events including the Asian Financial and Global Financial Crises, the early 1990s recession, the origins of cash rate targeting, and more.

Description of series

Scope

In 2023 the Bank's Knowledge Management Department commenced an official Oral History to gather and preserve first-hand recollections about the Bank's undertaking of unique functions of national significance from those with the highest level of decisionmaking responsibilities in those functions– past Governors and Deputy Governors. The development of ideas, practices and frameworks is captured in the interviews, adding context to existing records and also adding new information not formally documented in the Bank's archive previously.

Interview Structure

Each interview is recorded one-on-one with the Bank's Oral History Practitioner in a structured question-and-answer format over around two hours; the questions are not provided to the interviewee in advance of the interview. Opening questions ask the interviewee about their motivations in studying economics and pursuing a career as an economist, followed by questions about the chronology of their career and their involvement in economic events in which the Bank played a key role. Questions conclude with reflections on overall learnings from their time in office.

Interview Outputs

Two records are derived from each oral history interview: an audio recording and a written transcript (with subject index).

The written transcript is derived from the recording with both the Bank and interviewee permitted to review and redact content from the recording and transcript, although care is taken to retain the integrity of the interview. An index at the end of the transcript collates discussed subjects by timecode, allowing navigation by subject within both the transcript and recording.

A fact-checking process is also undertaken on the recording and transcript, but given an oral history relies on the interviewee's memory of often distant events the interview may contain factual errors. This approach accords with the recommended practices of Oral History Australia, the nation's leading authority on the professional practice of conducting oral histories.

A separate Master Subject Index also accompanies all interviews, collating the indexes from each transcript into one record.

First External Release

The first external release comprises interviews with:

Ian Macfarlane, who served 28 years at the Bank including as Governor from 1996–2006 and Deputy Governor from 1992–1996.
Glenn Stevens, who served 36 years at the Bank including as Governor from 2006-2016 and Deputy Governor from 2001–2006.
Dr Stephen Grenville, who served 19 years at the Bank including as Deputy Governor from 1996–2001 (interview accessible as transcript only as per his request).
Dr Guy Debelle who had a 28-year association with the Bank including as Deputy Governor from 2016–2022.

An interview was also conducted with Bernie Fraser who served as Reserve Bank Governor from 1989–1996 and as Treasury Secretary from 1984–1989. His interview is accessible to Bank staff and researchers on request from the Bank's Archives.

The collective Bank tenure of interviewees in the official Oral History spans the years 1970–2022.

Earlier Informal Oral Histories

Four earlier oral histories recorded informally from 1972–1986 are also available to access. These include three interviews with former Governor Dr H.C. Coombs, and an interview with five staff employed at the Commonwealth Bank during its commencement in 1912.

Biographical/historical notes

Herbert Cole (H.C.) Coombs

Dr H.C. Coombs devoted his life to public service through leading Australia's wartime administration and post-war reconstruction, establishing the Australian National University, and serving for 8 years as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and 11 years as Governor of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Coombs joined the Commonwealth bank as an Assistant Economist in 1935 before serving as its Governor from 1949 to 1959. When the Australian Government legislated to separate the central banking functions of the Commonwealth Bank in 1959, Coombs oversaw the formation of the new Reserve Bank of Australia and served as its inaugural Governor from 1960 to 1968.

Bernie Fraser

Bernie Fraser commenced his career as a civil servant in 1961 at the Department of National Development before first joining the Treasury in 1963. He held senior roles at the Department of Finance and National Energy Office before serving as Treasury Secretary from 1984 to 1989 and as Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia from 1989 to 1996. He is the only person to have led both the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Ian Macfarlane

Ian Macfarlane AC served 28 years at the Reserve Bank of Australia, including his final ten years as Governor. Macfarlane briefly worked at the Reserve Bank from 1970 to 1971 before working overseas and returning to the Bank in 1979. He then worked various roles in Economic Group and Financial Markets Group before being promoted to Deputy Governor in 1992 and then serving as Governor from 1996 to 2006.

Glenn Stevens

Glenn Stevens AC served 36 years at the Reserve Bank of Australia, including his final ten years as Governor. From 1980 Stevens held various positions in the Bank's Research Department, and from 1992 to 1996 he served as Head of the Economic Analysis Department and Head of the International Department. He was promoted to Assistant Governor (Economic) in 1996, to Deputy Governor in 2001, and served as Governor from 2006 to 2016.

Stephen Grenville

Dr Stephen Grenville served 19 years at the Reserve Bank of Australia, including his final five years as Deputy Governor. Grenville commenced at the Bank in 1982 and held senior positions in in Economic Group, International Department and Domestic Markets Department. During the 1990s he worked at a senior level at the Bank during the design and implementation of the Bank's inflation targeting framework and was extensively involved in the Bank's response to the Asian Financial Crisis. He served as Deputy Governor from 1996 to 2001.

Guy Debelle

Dr Guy Debelle served a 28-year association with the Reserve Bank of Australia, including his final five years as Deputy Governor. Debelle worked in the Research Department from 1994 to 1995 before working overseas and returning to the Bank in 1997. From 1998 to 2003 he served as Deputy Head and later Head of the Economic Analysis Department before working overseas on sabbatical from 2003 to 2004. He was promoted to Head of the International Department in 2004, to Assistant Governor (Financial Markets) in 2007, and served as Deputy Governor from 2016 to 2022.

Arrangement description

Formal oral histories:

Ian Macfarlane - Recorded 26 April 2024