Sally Cray
Sally Cray has been appointed to the newly-created position of chief communications officer at the Reserve Bank of Australia, the RBA said on Friday.
Cray served as principal private secretary to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull between 2015 and 2018.
She was head of corporate communications at the ABC from 2011 to 2013, before joining Turnbull’s staff (then minister for communications) in late 2013.
Subsequent to her career as a political adviser, Cray served as executive director corporate affairs for the Australian Banking Association from 2020 to 2022, and later worked for a year as chief of public affairs and investor relations for Bank of Queensland.
Cray will lead the Reserve Bank’s new communications department.
This department will be responsible for all aspects of the Reserve Bank’s external and internal communications, including its work to deliver the Bank’s economics education program.
Cray’s appointment, and the formation of this new department, “is designed to elevate the role of communications within the Reserve Bank and provide strategic communications advice to the governor and the boards of the Reserve Bank,” the RBA said.
“Improved communication by the (yet to be established) Monetary Policy Board would be supported by building the RBA’s strategic communications capacity under a chief communications officer reporting to the governor” was among the many recommendations following the review of the Reserve Bank of Australia released earlier this year.
It seems the new communications department (formerly operating under the umbrella of the secretary’s department) will tasked to provide input into policy making, as well as overseeing a more assertive and more regular outreach program championed by the review.
This will include regular media conferences by the RBA governor following meetings and monetary policy decisions.
“The Review sees value in the Monetary Policy Board devoting more time to discussing … communications planning,” was one of many observations of the review.
Cray will commence her new role on 4 December.