Gemma Van Halderen is Chief Data Officer at the Australian Government Department of Social Services. She joined the Department in April 2023 following a 30 year career at the Australian Bureau of Statistics where her most recent responsibilities were for population, labour and location insights and statistics. From 2018-2021 she was Director of the Statistics Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and in 2017, Gemma was seconded to the Australian Government’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to lead preparation of a Government response to a Productivity Commission Inquiry into Data Availability and Use which recommended the creation of a National Data Commissioner and new data sharing legislation.

Gemma has extensive global experience. She was inaugural co-chair of a UN Expert Group on the Integration of Statistical and Geospatial Information, is an elected member of the International Statistics Institute, the regional editor of the Statistical Journal of the IAOS and an advocate for young statisticians. Gemma holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the Australian National University. Her interests include big data, data stewardship, statistical-geospatial integration and data integration.

Gemma was the IAOS’ focal point for the Young Statistician Prize between 2013 and 2023 and is part of the ISI Capability Building group.