Travers McLeod

Travers McLeod is BSL’s Executive Director, responsible for the day-to-day management of the activities of BSL as delegated by the Board.

In April 2022, Travers joined BSL from the Centre for Policy Development - an independent Australian policy institute he led as CEO for eight years and remains connected with as a Senior Fellow. In his first year at BSL, Travers has already made significant impact by speaking at the Federal Government’s Jobs and Skills Summit in September 2022 and being appointed to the interim Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee that will make recommendations to the Federal Government prior to each Budget. 

He began his career in public law, working for the State Solicitor’s Office in Western Australia and for Justice Michael Kirby in the High Court of Australia. 

Travers holds a DPhil and MPhil (Dist) in International Relations from Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar and was a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations. Travers worked as a Policy Adviser for the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, playing a lead role in their 2013 report Now for the Long Term. He is the author of Rule of Law in War, which was published by Oxford University Press in 2015. Travers is a board member of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture and an occasional moderator for the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership.

Travers grew up in Exmouth and Perth in Western Australia and is married to a Kiwi. They and their two young daughters now call Melbourne home.