Ross Gittins became an economic journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald in 1974 and has been its Economics Editor since 1978. He is also an economic columnist for The Age, Melbourne. His journalistic experience includes editorial writing and stints in the parliamentary press galleries in Sydney and Canberra. Before joining the Herald, he worked as an auditor with the national chartered accounting firm Touche Ross & Co.
He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Newcastle and is a fellow of Chartered Accountants ANZ. He has been a Nuffield press fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and a journalist-in-residence at the department of economics of the University of Melbourne. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by Macquarie University, the University of Sydney, the Australian National University and the University of Newcastle. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and a fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
In 2008 he was made a member of the Order of Australia for service to journalism as a commentator on economics. In 2020 he received a Walkley award for outstanding contribution to journalism.
His latest book is ‘Gittins: A Life Among Budgets, Bulldust and Bastardry’ (Allen & Unwin).