Rodney Graham “Rod” Sims AO is an Australian economist and former public servant. He served as chair of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australia’s competition regulator, from 1 August 2011 to 20 March 2022; the longest serving ACCC chair in the agency’s history. Currently, he is Professor in the practice of public policy and antitrust at the Crawford School, Australian National University, Canberra. He is also Chair of the Competition Research Policy Network, at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London.
As Australia’s competition law enforcer, consumer law champion and regulator of certain infrastructure sectors, he was aptly described as “the most feared man in Australian business” by the Australian Financial Review.
Professor Sims has worked in a wide variety of organisations across the private and public sectors, including Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of NSW, the National Competition Council, Port Jackson Partners Limited, and as the Chair of the NSW State Rail Authority. He has worked in the Australian Public Service including as Deputy Secretary in the Departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Transport and Communications. He was the Principal Economic Advisor to Australian Prime Minister, Hon. Bob Hawke. His earlier roles saw him advising several developing countries, such as Papua New Guinea, on economic policy. Mr. Sims has also spent over 15 years advising companies on all aspects of commercial corporate strategy.
Under Professor Sims’ leadership, the ACCC acted against many companies for unconscionable corporate conduct. Those that have had to pay heavy penalties include Coles, Woolworths, Telstra, Optus, Ford, Thermomix; Flight Centre; K-Line, Heinz; Nurofen and Pental, amongst many others. More recently, under his watch, the ACCC launched lawsuits against both Google and Facebook over alleged misuse of user data.
Following a review of Google and Facebook’s impact on local journalism, the ACCC recommended the creation of a News Media Bargaining Code. Since its implementation, it has proven “extremely successful” for Australian media companies, though Mr. Sims has criticized Facebook for failing to negotiate “in the right spirit” with media.
Professor Sims graduated with a first-class Honours degree in Commerce from the University of Melbourne and received a Master of Economics degree from the Australian National University. He has written and spoken extensively on general economic issues, including on competition, infrastructure, energy, and environment issues. He has also recently written numerous articles on competition and consumer policy and law.
In 2022, Professor Sims was appointed as Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to public administration in economic policy and regulatory roles.
The Institute of Certified Management Accountants is honoured to induct Professor Rodney Sims to the Global Management Accounting Hall of Fame® for his services to the profession and the community in Australia.