Regulatory expertise
We understand effective regulation. Having built defensible investigation frameworks, enforcement policies, and regulatory strategy, we know what works, what fails, and what gets missed under pressure.
Specialist support for government
Holt Advisory strengthens regulators to set clear expectations for industry and prevent harm to the communities they serve.
We know what good regulation looks like. We've spent our careers building it.
We bring career regulators into your agency. Independent enough to tell you the truth. Experienced enough to be useful.
State and federal government · Investigations · Regulatory operations · Capability uplift
Public servants. Just outside the public service.
Our purpose
Our mission
Holt Advisory strengthens regulators to set clear expectations for industry and prevent harm to the communities they serve.
Our vision
To be the firm regulators turn to first, and the place the best people want to work.
Our values
We serve the community
We make our calls in the community's interest, and we're upfront about what we think is right.
We act with integrity
We only take on work people genuinely need, and we do what we say we'll do.
We are genuine
We are professional and warm. We value individuals: their experience, their ideas, their time.
We assume good intent
We give people — clients and colleagues — the most generous interpretation, and we lead with kindness.
We succeed together
Culture is everyone's responsibility. We celebrate each other's success and we pitch in when a colleague needs it.
Why agencies work with us
Independent challenge
We're not here to rubberstamp your work. Our value is rigorous, constructive challenge that surfaces issues before they become problems — the outsider perspective you need when your team is deep in the weeds.
Implementation focus
We assess processes through an implementation lens: not just whether they're technically correct, but whether they'll work in practice, survive contact with reality, and achieve the outcomes you need.
Our experience spans senior roles in regulators so we understand the realities of regulating: limited resources, competing priorities, and constant pressure to do more with less.
About us
Madelaine Holt
Principal
Madelaine has over a decade of experience working at world-class government agencies. As a former Director of the Enforcement, Product Safety and Infrastructure Divisions at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and as the former head of the Tasmanian ACCC office, Madelaine brings deep expertise in regulation, investigations and policy implementation — including leading complex and high-profile matters involving individuals and businesses, including ASX-listed companies.
Madelaine has a strong track record of aligning agency strategy with the work of frontline staff. She offers strategic, practical and innovative advice to state and federal government agencies and oversight bodies seeking to uplift their capabilities across regulatory functions and broader policy, operational and investigative areas.
Since founding Holt Advisory, Madelaine has worked as a trusted advisor to Commonwealth and state government agencies across regulatory capability, investigations, strategy design, legislation implementation under tight timeframes, and the development of strategic triage models and operational policies that frontline staff can actually use. She has lectured at the University of Tasmania and regularly trains government staff in best-practice processes, strategy and techniques.
Rebecca Edler
Senior Consultant
Rebecca brings over a decade of executive regulatory experience across the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, alongside five years in private legal practice. Her depth of experience spans complex investigations, policy development, and rigorous legal analysis.
Rebecca's work across state and federal agencies has focused on strengthening compliance, enforcement and operational frameworks that are both principled and practical. She has designed and implemented policies, procedures and decision-making tools that improve consistency and transparency at the frontline, with a particular grounding in triage and prioritisation systems, investigation processes and evidence management.
Rebecca works closely with clients to understand their organisational context, identify real constraints, and deliver solutions that can be implemented and sustained.
How we work
01
We embed
We work closely with your team, not from a distance. Senior practitioners who have done the work sit alongside your people.
02
We deliver
We take on the work — investigations, frameworks, operations — and see it through to completion.
03
We leave capability behind
Tools, processes and frameworks your team can sustain long after we've gone.
What we create belongs to your team — designed to be owned, run, and improved by them.
Services
Regulatory strategy
Harm based. Enforcement ready. Built for impact.
Investigation support
Backlog clearing, matter management and end-to-end investigation delivery.
Legislation implementation
Standing up new functions quickly, under pressure and to statutory deadlines.
Operational frameworks
Triage systems, prioritisation tools and work instructions built for frontline use.
Our work
Compliance and enforcement policy
A Commonwealth regulatory agency had no compliance and enforcement policy, leaving industry without visibility of how the regulator approached harm, and the team without clear direction on priorities and tools. We developed a policy that told both audiences what they needed to know: how the regulator thinks, what it focuses on, and what it will do.
Investigation triage and prioritisation
A Commonwealth regulatory agency had no consistent framework for case selection. We built a harms-based prioritisation model giving frontline staff a defensible, consistent approach to deciding where to focus.
Legislation implementation under a tight timeframe
A Commonwealth statutory body needed to stand up new operational processes following legislative change. We embedded with the internal team across process maps, work instructions, industry communications, governance frameworks and internal training — supporting staff to deliver quickly and with confidence.
Rebuilding investigation practice from the ground up
A state regulator needed its investigation policies overhauled, correcting entrenched practice and introducing current, best-practice approaches. The policies were the first step in a deliberate culture change across the investigations function.
Careers
We're not hiring right now — but we're always looking for great people.
If you've worked in regulation, investigations or public sector operations and the way we work resonates with you, get in touch. We keep expressions of interest on file and contact people when the right work comes up.
Please email madelaine.holt@holtadvisory.com.au with your current CV and a short note about the kind of work you're interested in.
Send your CVContact
Tell us what your agency is up against.
We only take on work people genuinely need. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so — and point you to someone who is.