Carolyn Lidgerwood

Authority Member, Australian Communications and Media Authority

Carolyn was appointed to the Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) as a full-time Authority Member in September 2023. Carolyn is based at the ACMA’s Melbourne office.

Carolyn joined the ACMA after working as a lawyer and regulatory compliance expert with leading global and Australian organisations for more than 30 years.

At the ACMA, Carolyn is the Authority Lead for Gambling. She is also the Authority Lead for Content and for Compliance and Enforcement.

Carolyn works closely with staff in the ACMA’s gambling team – who conduct gambling regulatory functions under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 and also the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. This includes a focus on BetStop – the National Self-Exclusion Register™, disruption of illegal online gambling services and administering gambling advertising restrictions.

Prior to her appointment to the ACMA, Carolyn specialised in privacy law and broadcasting law. She was Head of Privacy at Rio Tinto for more than 12 years, and prior to that was General Counsel and Company Secretary at Southern Cross Media - then Australia’s largest regional broadcasting company. Before moving in-house, Carolyn was Special Counsel at Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers in Sydney for more than a decade, after working in both private and public sector roles in the early years of her career.

In April 2024, Carolyn received the Privacy Vanguard Award for Oceania from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) – an award for privacy professionals ‘who have achieved greatness in leadership, knowledge and creativity’. Carolyn has also previously been included in the Legal 500 'GC Powerlist' for Australia and in the ‘Best Lawyers' listing (for broadcasting law).

Carolyn grew up on a farm at Tungamah in north-east Victoria, Australia and holds honours degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Melbourne.