Specialist support for government.
Good regulation is how the law keeps its promise. Without it, the law fails the people who need it most.
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
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. Her work spans the full suite of tools, processes and practices needed to deliver consistent, effective and efficient public outcomes.
Since founding Holt Advisory, Madelaine has worked as a trusted advisor to Commonwealth and state government agencies, supporting work 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 helps agencies progress complex matters, clear backlogs, and build the internal capability to sustain momentum.
Madelaine is committed to education of the next generation of public sector professionals. She has lectured at the University of Tasmania and regularly trains government staff in best-practice processes, strategy and techniques.
Contact: madelaine.holt@holtadvisory.com.au
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.
Contact: rebecca.edler@holtadvisory.com.au
HOW WE WORK
We embed
We work inside your team, not from a distance.
We deliver
We take on the work — investigations, frameworks, operations — and see it through.
We leave capability behind
Tools, processes and training your team can sustain without us.
SERVICES
Regulatory Strategy
Risk based. Enforcement ready. Built for actual outcomes.
Investigation Support
Backlog clearing, matter management, end-to-end investigation delivery.
Legislation Implementation
Standing up new functions quickly, under pressure.
Operational Frameworks
Triage systems, prioritisation tools, 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 legislation change. We embedded with the internal team, providing expert guidance and assurance across the development of 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 bad practice and introducing current, best-practice approaches. The policies were the first step in a deliberate culture change across the investigations function.
CONTACT
madelaine.holt@holtadvisory.com.au
Phone
0408 641 796