Mitra Anderson-Oliver

Manager - Industry Support and Recovery - Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions

Biography

Mitra Anderson-Oliver is the Manager of Industry Support and Recovery at the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. Previously Senior Planning Adviser to the Victorian State Government, Mitra has over a decade of experience in strategic advice, policy development and implementation in urban planning and development, urban design, climate change and housing policy.

Mitra started her career in the Climate Change Branch at Victoria’s Department of Premier and Cabinet. She was a key part of the team that produced Victoria’s first major package of climate action reforms, including the Climate Change Act. More recently, Mitra spent four years leading planning reform projects for the Minister for Planning in Victoria. This included amendments to the Victorian Planning and Environment Act which saw a reframing of the Act to ensure that the State’s critical need for affordable housing could be addressed through the planning system.

Mitra is active in the not-for-profit and community sectors, and was a founding Board member and Secretary of the artist-run Schoolhouse Studios in Collingwood. She is also a co-founder and Committee Member of Yarra Pools, a community-led proposal to re-introduce recreation and water-play to the lower Yarra and, in doing so, to transform an under-used section of the iconic river’s northern bank into a thriving community facility.

Mitra publishes regularly in urban and design journals about inspiring places and people leading positive change in cities. She has a Bachelor of Arts/Law (Hons) and a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Melbourne, and was twice awarded the Dean’s Honours Award. She was part of the teaching team in the Urban Environments and Inclusive Cities subjects in the Masters of Urban Planning and Bachelor of Environments at the University of Melbourne.

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