Soon after graduating, and joining the
Australian Government's
Treasury, Hatfield Dodds was seconded to the
Canadian Department of Finance for several years and lived in
Ottawa with his family. On returning to Australia, he held positions in The Allen Consulting Group,
Environment Australia, and the
Australian National University. He worked with, and advised on: •
cost-benefit analysis and non-market valuation in
public policy (1998–2003); • developing robust frameworks for identifying the benefits and value of
social capital and related
social impacts (2001); • State Government agencies on the design and implementation of
triple bottom line reporting and governance systems, including projects with the
Government of Victoria to develop practical tools for assessing potential economic impacts of environmental
risks (2001–03); • issues in integrating transport and
greenhouse policies, for Commonwealth and State Transport Ministers (2002); • the Greening Australia 'green bank'
leverage fund pilot under the National Action Plan market based instrument trial. • He has contributed to: •
Building a Stronger Social Coalition (2002), proposing practical tax measures to encourage
philanthropy in Australia; •
Repairing the Country: Leveraging Private Investment for the
Australian Conservation Foundation's Business Leaders Roundtable (2001), as a senior author; • the
Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists'
Blueprint for a Living Continent report (November 2002), •
A New Model for Landscape Conservation in New South Wales (February 2003) commissioned by Premier
Bob Carr, and •
Blueprint for a National Water Plan (July 2003); • Was lead consultant with the
Government of the Australian Capital Territory in the development of its long term industry policy framework (2002–03); He joined Australia's
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (
CSIRO) in 2002, and in 2003 became Senior Researcher in the Integration Science and Public Policy office, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems. In 2008 he joined the newly formed Commonwealth
Department of Climate Change. In the December 2007 report
Leader, follower or free rider? for the
Government of the United Kingdom (to which he contributed a submission), Hatfield Dodds as lead author argued for deep cuts in Australia's
greenhouse gas emissions in the next 40 years (to 2050) and that the economic costs are modest and manageable and, indeed, preferable to the consequences of not acting. "It is much more disruptive and costly to step up action than to relax it so it is better to start off with the most stringent target you can imagine and that is what we have modelled... ". In 2022, the
Albanese government commissioned an
Independent Review of Australian Carbon Credit Units, that reported in December 2022. The independent panel was composed of Professor
Ian Chubb AC (Chair), the Hon Dr
Annabelle Bennett AC SC, Ms
Ariadne Gorring and Dr Stephen Hatfield Dodds. ==Positions held==