After gaining his BA (Hons) and MA in Economics at the University of Melbourne, Leo Dobes completed a DPhil in East European Economics at the University of Oxford in 1980. Since then, he has been an Australian diplomat, worked as an intelligence analyst in the Office of National Assessments, been a policy adviser in the Commonwealth departments of Defence and The Treasury, and played a key role in developing and implementing the reform of the telecommunications sector in 1990-91.

More recently, Dr Dobes has worked in the Bureau of Transport Economics, spent a year at Ernst & Young, market tested corporate services in the Department of Transport and Regional Services, and headed the Analysis and Performance Branch in the Regional Services Division. He currently works in the Department’s Strategic Projects unit.