The Treasury Essay Competition is a national essay contest for Australian university students to commemorate Australia’s 50 years of membership of the OECD.
Entries for the competition closed at 5 pm (AEST) on Friday 13 August 2021.
A judging panel determined a winning entry and two commendable entries.
Members of the judging panel were:
- Chair: Mark Cully, First Assistant Secretary, Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Division, Treasury
- Dr Alexander Robson, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the OECD
- Lisa Elliston, First Assistant Secretary, International Economics and Security Division, Treasury.
The winning entries were:
- Winner: '50 Years of Australian OECD Membership: Progress, Prosperity and Potential', Anand Bharadwaj, University of Melbourne [PDF 186KB]
- Runner up: 'Australia and the OECD: A fruitful 50-year partnership', Rhea Choudhary, University of Melbourne [PDF 113KB]
- Runner up: '50 years on: Strengths and Opportunities for Australia and the OECD', Patrick Elkington, The University of Queensland [PDF 493KB]
Entrants were asked to write an essay of no more than 2,000 words (not including references) that addressed the following topic:
In 2021 Australia will celebrate 50 years as a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The OECD Convention, established in 1961, begins with an important statement: that economic strength and prosperity are essential for securing peace, preserving individual liberty and increasing general wellbeing.
Over the last 50 years, how has Australia’s membership of the OECD helped to improve our nation’s economic strength and prosperity? You may choose to answer this with respect to a particular policy field where the OECD has been prominent, or with respect to overall measures of strength and prosperity in Australia. What lessons are there for Australia’s ongoing engagement with the OECD?
Entry was open to all students (undergraduate and postgraduate) enrolled at an Australian tertiary education institution as at 30 June 2021.