Departmental secretary

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This article is about the administration of Government in Australia. For other uses, see Secretary (disambiguation). For the equivalent role in the British government, see Permanent Secretary. For the equivalent role in the Canadian government, see Deputy minister (Canada).
Secretary
RichardsonHowardShergold.jpg
Peter Shergold (right) in his capacity as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; with then Prime Minister John Howard at a 2005 meeting in the United States.
Occupation
Names Departmental secretary
Occupation type
 Public servant
Activity sectors
 Australian and State government
Description
Competencies Strategic advice; Public administration
Related jobs
 Government minister; Director general; Chief Executive

In the administration of government in Australia, a departmental secretary, or more commonly a Secretary, is the most senior public servant of a Commonwealth or state government department, charged with leading the department on a day-to-day basis.

Role

A departmental secretary is the non-political non-elected public servant heads (and "responsible officers") of government departments, who generally hold their position for a number of years.[1] A departmental secretary works closely with the elected government minister that oversees the Commonwealth department or state government department in order to bring about policy and program initiatives that the government of day was elected to achieve. A departmental secretary works with other departments and agencies to ensure the delivery of services and programs within the nominated area of responsibility.

The secretary is also known as the chief executive of the department; the position is equivalent to the Permanent Secretary of a government department in the United Kingdom, and similar to director general in some non-Commonwealth countries, or (very roughly) chief executive officer (CEO) in a private company.

In the Australian government, Secretaries are the responsible officers for departments, meaning that they are answerable to the Australian Parliament for ensuring that the department performs the functions assigned to it and spends money appropriately, as granted by the Parliament. Secretaries are frequently called for questioning by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, the House of Representatives committees and the Senate committees.

Appointment and termination

The Public Service Act, 1999 (Cth) requires the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to provide a report to the Prime Minister of the day[2] about the suitability of potential candidates as departmental secretary. The report is prepared in conjunction with the Public Service Commissioner. Appointments and terminations as departmental secretary are made by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister; under Sections 58 and 59 respectively of the Act.[3][4]

Since the removal of tenure under Prime Minister Paul Keating, departmental secretaries are generally aware that while dismissals are not common, following a change of government, failure to re-appoint a secretary is certainly a frequent occurrence.[5] In the first Rudd government, secretaries were appointed for a five-year term;[1] prior to this a term of three years was common.[6] In 1999, the Howard government sought to remove Paul Barratt AO as Secretary of the Department of Defence after Barratt fell out of favour with his Minister.[7] Despite being offered a diplomatic post, Barratt refused to vacate the role and commenced legal action,[8] claiming unfair dismissal and that the government had failed to follow due process.[9] Barratt had a temporary stay,[10] but was dismissed within 14 days,[11] and subsequently lost, on appeal in the Federal Court.[12]

The most senior Commonwealth public servant is the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, currently Dr Ian Watt AO .[needs update]

In Victoria

In the Government of the state of Victoria, the most senior government departmental secretary is the Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, currently Chris Eccles.

Current Australian government departmental secretaries

There are currently 22[citation needed] individuals in Australian government departments with the grade of Secretary, though not all use these titles.

Department Jobholder Title Effective date
of appointment		 Ref(s)
Australian government departments
Prime Minister and Cabinet Michael Thawley AO Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet 5 September 2011 (2011-09-05) [13]
Ms Rebecca Cross Associate Secretary (Domestic Policy)
Dr Margot McCarthy Associate Secretary (National Security Adviser) 3 February 2012 [14]
Agriculture Dr Paul Grimes Secretary of the Department of Agriculture 18 September 2013 (2013-09-18) [15][16]
Attorney-General's Chris Moraitis PSM Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department 1 September 2008 (2008-09-01) [17]
Communications Drew Clarke PSM Secretary of the Department of Communications 11 March 2013 (2013-03-11) [2]
Defence Dennis Richardson AO Secretary of the Department of Defence 18 October 2012 (2012-10-18) [18]
Education and Training Lisa Paul AO PSM Secretary of the Department of Education and Training 18 September 2013 (2013-09-18) [16]
Tony Cook Associate Secretary (Early Childhood, Schools and Youth) [19]
Employment Renée Leon PSM Secretary of the Department of Employment 18 September 2013 (2013-09-18) [16][20]
Environment Dr Gordon de Brouwer PSM Secretary of the Department of the Environment 18 September 2013 (2013-09-18) [16]
Finance Jane Halton AO PSM Secretary of the Department of Finance 13 August 2009 [1]
Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Varghese AO Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 3 December 2012 (2012-12-03) [18]
Health Martin Bowles PSM Secretary of the Department of Health 13 October 2014 (2014-10-13) [21]
Professor Chris Baggoley AO Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Government 30 August 2011 (2011-08-30) [22]
Human Services Kathryn Campbell CSC Secretary of the Department of Human Services 7 March 2011 (2011-03-07) [23]
Immigration and Border Protection Mike Pezzullo Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection 13 October 2014 (2014-10-13) [24]
Infrastructure and Regional Development Mike Mrdak Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development 29 June 2009 (2009-06-29) [25]
Department of Industry and Science Glenys Beauchamp PSM Secretary of the Department of Industry 18 September 2013 (2013-09-18) [16]
Social Services Finn Pratt PSM Secretary of the Department of Social Services 18 September 2013 (2013-09-18) [26]
The Treasury John Fraser Secretary to the Department of the Treasury 7 March 2011 (2011-03-07) [27]
Veterans' Affairs Simon Lewis PSM Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs 11 July 2013 (2013-07-11) [28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Public Service Act, 1999 (Cth) s 58
  4. ↑ Public Service Act, 1999 (Cth) s 59
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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