Our Team
Associate Professor Paul Maginn
Director
Associate Professor Paul Maginn is the Director of the UWA Public Policy Institute and co-ordinator of the Administration and Governance stream of the Masters of Public Policy at UWA.
Paul is an urban planner/geographer and has been at UWA since February 2007. He previously held positions at the University of South Australia and Edith Cowan University, having migrated to Australia in 2003.
He has co-edited a number of books, his latest—Suburbia in the 21st Century: From Dreamscape to Nightmare? alongside Professor Katrin Anacker (George Mason University, USA)—published in 2022 by Routledge. Paul is also Editor-in-Chief of Urban Policy and Research.
Professor David Gilchrist
Research Director
Professor David Gilchrist is Foundation Director of the Centre for Public Value at The University of Western Australia's Business School and is a professor of accounting at that institution. He has received funding from governments, peak bodies and individual organisations for various research projects predominantly related to the Not-for-profit human services sector, Not-for-profit accounting and financial reporting, financial sustainability and outcomes reporting, and policy and practice related to these areas. He has been a director and chair of a number of human services organisations over past years and is currently a director of a policy-focused charity in the education area.
David has worked in and around the human services sector for 30 years. He has held executive roles in, consulted to and been part of the governance team of various charitable human services organisations including in disability services, aged care and child protection. In all of these areas, David has contributed to policy and practice.
David has researched in the areas of nonprofit sustainability, economics and governance and has written over 100 industry reports and papers focusing on key issues related to the sector.
Ana Mendigutxia Balil
Senior Program Coordinator
Ana Mendigutxia Balil is the Senior Program Coordinator at the UWA Public Policy Institute and Program Manager for Pathways to Politics for Women UWA. In this role, she provides strategic planning and project management to support the Institute's initiatives and leads the design, delivery, and operations of the Pathways to Politics for Women program.
Before joining UWA, Ana worked at UNESCO's International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, where she specialised in higher education, research and innovation policy analysis, and management of international higher education projects. She has also led public communication campaigns for public institutions to strengthen the visibility and representation of women in leadership and decision-making roles.
Ana holds a Bachelor in Journalism from the University of the Basque Country, a Certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Master in International Cooperation to Development and Humanitarian Action from The Open University of Catalonia.
Ben Perks
Senior policy and communications officer
Ben Perks is the Senior Policy and Communications Officer at the UWA Public Policy Institute and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Value in The University of Western Australia Business School. His research interests include not-for-profit sustainability, economics of human services and welfare, government systems change, economic mobility, inequality and poverty, and social program evaluation.
Ben has previously worked in policy development for the Department of Social Services, contributing to major initiatives including the Not-for-profit Sector Development Blueprint and the Community Sector Grants Engagement Framework. He also serves on the Grants Committee and Board of Directors for two Western Australian charities, bringing practical insight to his academic and policy-focused roles.
Ximena Shaw
Communications officer
Ximena Shaw is the Communications Officer at the UWA Public Policy Institute, where she supports the Institute’s communications, research engagement and public-facing activities. Her experience includes developing audio (podcast) and written communications content, coordinating research reports, supporting events and outreach activities, and translating complex scientific information into engaging and accessible stories for diverse audiences.
Passionate about making science relevant, accessible and engaging to different audiences, she is particularly interested in how research can move beyond academic spaces and contribute to conversations that shape society. Through her work, she has come to see public policy as an important pathway for connecting evidence and research with real-world decisions and outcomes.
She holds a Master of Science Communication from The University of Western Australia and a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology, bringing together her scientific background with a passion for storytelling and public engagement.