Steve French is the General Manager of the Financial Institutions Division of the Australian Treasury. The Financial Institutions Division is responsible for policy advice on the financial sector, including the prudential regulation of financial institutions and the promotion of Australia as financial centre.He joined the Treasury in the early 1980s and has held a range of positions dealing with domestic and international economic conditions and policy, budget policies and federal financial relations.

He has previously been the Adviser, Corporate Strategy to the Treasury's Executive Board (1998-1999) and held General Manager positions responsible for Budget Policy (1997-1998) and for Labour Market Policy (1995-1996). He was also Minister and Counsellor, Economic and Financial Affairs, at the Australian Delegation to the OECD and the Australian Embassy in Paris over the four years to 1994.He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the University of Queensland. He was born in 1961.