Hayley Channer

Hayley Channer is the Director of the Economic Security Program with the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Hayley brings an interdisciplinary lens to her analysis, having worked as an Australian Government official, Ministerial adviser, think tank analyst, and represented global non-profit organisations.

Prior to her current role, Hayley was a Senior Policy Fellow with the Perth USAsia Centre. In this position, she published analysis on multilateral economic frameworks, infrastructure and investment in the Indo-Pacific, and the Quad. She also provided policy guidance to senior Australian and US government officials on how to better engage the private sector.

In 2022, Hayley was awarded the Fulbright Australia Coral Sea Scholarship (Business/Industry) which she undertook in Washington DC. Her Fulbright examined alternative infrastructure offerings to China’s Belt and Road Initiative including Australia-US-Japan trilateral cooperation in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Previously, Hayley was a Department of Defence official working mainly across the Strategy, Policy and Industry Group as well as with Defence Science and Technology (DST). With Defence, she delivered Foreign and Defence (2+2) Ministerial meetings, supported diplomatic posts in Tokyo and Washington DC, and advised senior military personnel, including on exercise. For Exercise Talisman Sabre 2017, Hayley was the Australian Policy Adviser to the Commander, US Third Fleet in San Diego and worked under simulated wartime conditions.

Hayley has held Visiting Fellowships with the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC) at the Australian National University and East West Center in Washington DC. She is an alumnus of the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the Australia-America Young Leadership Dialogue (AAYLD), and the German Marshall Fund’s Young Strategists Forum. Hayley also serves on the Advisory Board of the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy, & Defence Dialogue (AP4D).

Frequently quoted in the Australian and international media, Hayley’s work has been published in Foreign Policy, the Australian Financial Review, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Diplomat Magazine, and the Hill. She has given live television and radio interviews and presented around the world to large audiences. Hayley has a Master of International Relations from the University of Queensland and Certificate in Public Policy from the London School of Economics.