Sharp, Rhonda (1953 - )

Dr Rhonda Sharp is a leader in the field of feminist economics, nationally and internationally, in both academia and applied policy work.

Rhonda Sharp has many years experience working with gender budgets and public expenditure policy. She has worked as an economist and public policy analyst for the government of South Australia, and has acted as gender budget advisor for various governments including those of Fiji, Barbados, Sri Lanka and South Africia, as well as heading up a large project for the Asian Development Bank which involved developing youth and gender budgets for Pacific Island governments. In addition, Sharp has provided consultations on gender budgets (a key equality tool in policy making) for UNIFEM and the UNDP; the Commonwealth Secretariat; the Asian Development Bank Institute; the Norwegian Government, the Basque Government, the Swedish Institute for Development Aid (SIDA); and AusAid.

Rhonda Sharp has played a valuable role in challenging the perception that economics is 'gender neutral', bringing a feminist perspective to a traditionally patriarchal arena. In a personal capacity she has also been a valuable mentor for a number of young feminists who, without her support, would not have had the career opportunities they enjoy today.

This entry was written and researched by Tahnya Barnett Donaghy for Women's History Month 2003.

Events

1973 - 1974	Trainee economist at CSR; Sydney
1974 - 1975	Economics Tutor at the University of New England
1975	Awarded Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of New England
1976	Awarded Diploma of Education from the University of New England
1976 - 1990	Lecturer for the School of Business at the South Australian College of Advanced Education
1982	Awarded Master of Economic Studies from the University of Queensland
1985 - 1986	Seconded to be an economist for the Women's Advisers Office with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, South Australia
1991 - 1997	Senior lecturer for the School of Economics, Finance & Property at the University of South Australia
1997	Awarded PhD from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Sydney
1998 - 2000	Director of the Research Centre for Gender Studies at the University of South Australia

Books

• Budlender, Debbie & Sharp, Rhonda ; with Kerri Allen, How to do a gender-sensitive budget analysis : contemporary research and practice, Australian Agency for International Development ; Commonwealth Secretariat, Canberra, c1998, 81 pp. [ Details... ]
• Sharp, Rhonda, Women and economic policies, Office of Women's Policy, Dept. of the Chief Minister, Darwin, N.T., 1999, 8 pp. [ Details... ]
• Sharp, Rhonda, The economics and politics of auditing government budgets for their gender impacts, Hawke Institute, University of South Australia, Magill, SA, 2000, 25 pp. [ Details... ]
• Sharp, Rhonda and Broomhill, Ray, Short-changed : women and economic policies, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1988, 198 pp. [ Details... ]