Senior Executive Service
Band 1
The Clean Energy Regulator has promoted Jennifer Bradley to general manager for soil, emissions avoidance and contracts.
Three new branch heads have been appointed to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water — Alison Wiltshire, Andrew Pankowski and Nadia Rosenman.
Matthew Harding is now an assistant secretary at The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Australian Taxation Office has two new assistant commissioners. Nardine McLoughlin will cover SES services and leadership, while Scott Keane will manage workplace relations.
Band 2
Genevieve Ebbeck and Sacha Moran are now deputy chief general counsels at the Office of the Government Solicitor.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has promoted Peta Langeveld to first assistant secretary.
ACT Director of Public Prosecutions chosen
Victoria Engel will assume the role of ACT Director of Public Prosecutions in May.
Engel is senior counsel at the Northern Territory Bar. Before this, she was deputy director at the NT Director of Public Prosecutions.
Engel joined the Northern Territory office of Director of Public Prosecutions in 2020 as the principal crown prosecutor where she focused on trial and appeal work in the Supreme and Appeal Courts. In this role, she led substantial changes in the management of sexual assault cases.
She was appointed deputy director in 2021, leading the crown prosecution team, the summary prosecution team, and the witness assistance service.
Engel was provided policy advice to external stakeholders including the Northern Territory Police and Independent Commissioner against Corruption, and other agencies.
Engel started her legal career with the NSW Legal Aid Commission as a law clerk before joining the NSW Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in 2007. During her time at ODPP NSW, she worked as a crown prosecutor, appearing in more than 40 complex trials.
Kate Boyd takes permanent charge of NSW Cabinet Office
The NSW government has named Kate Boyd secretary of the state’s Cabinet Office.
Boyd has worked in the NSW Cabinet Office since 2007 and served as acting secretary since December last year.
Prior to that appointment, Boyd was deputy secretary, general counsel, in the former Department of Premier and Cabinet.
She was awarded a Public Service Medal for her outstanding work during the 2019-2020 bushfire season and the COVID-19 pandemic.
FOI specialist named Queensland information commissioner
Joanne Kummrow will begin a three-year term at the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) after Easter.
Kummrow, who was most recently Victorian public access deputy commissioner, has expertise in administrative law, decision-making and civil investigations, having also worked as special counsel, government and public law in the Victorian government Solicitor’s Office.
In this capacity, she led the Victorian government’s legal team that responded to the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence.
Queensland’s information commissioner has functions under the Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information Privacy Act 2009.
As head of the OIC, an independent statutory body, Kummrow is responsible for promoting access to government-held information, protecting citizens’ personal information held by the public sector and supporting public sector agencies comply with the law.
Kummrow takes over from Stephanie Winson, who has been Queensland’s acting information commissioner since last September.
Crawford school director named IPAA ACT representative
Professor Janine O’Flynn has been appointed IPAA ACT’s representative on the institute’s national council.
O’Flynn is currently the director of ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy, a position she has held since 2022.
Previously, she was a professor of public management at the University of Melbourne, and worked as a professor of public management at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.
O’Flynn was also a co-author of a research paper commissioned by the Thodey review, and has been co-editing the Australian Journal of Public Administration since 2015.
Senior public servant to take over the Front Project
Dr Caroline Croser-Barlow has been appointed CEO of early learning organisation The Front Project.
She succeeds founding CEO Jane Hunt, who is stepping down after seven years in the role.
Croser-Barlow is a senior public servant with experience across a range of policy areas, including ECEC, disability in education, climate change, energy, environment, and social policy. She is currently the executive director at the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Previously, she supported the South Australian royal commissioner Julia Gillard in her work on early childhood education and care.
Croser-Barlow begins her new role next month.
New leaders for medicines and medical services committees
Two esteemed medical experts have been appointed to oversee the committees that advise the government on funding medicines, medical services, health programs and technologies for Australian patients.
Cancer researcher and medical oncologist, Professor Robyn Ward has been appointed chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC).
Ward’s four-year appointment starts May 5, taking the chair from retiring Professor Andrew Wilson, who has spent nine years in the role.
Ward is the executive dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. She also has extensive experience in health technology assessment through her role as chair of MSAC since 2009 and as a previous member of the PBAC.
Paediatric nephrologist and clinical epidemiologist Jonathan Craig has been appointed chair of the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC).
Craig is vice president and executive dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University. His research focuses on improving the health of people with chronic kidney disease, children, and the health and wellbeing of First Nations people.
Professor Kwun Fong and associate Professor Sarah Norris have also been appointed as co-deputy chairs of MSAC.
The appointments were made following an expression of interest process conducted by the Department of Health and Aged Care.
CSIRO names Centre for Disease Preparedness director
Australia’s national science agency has named Dr Debbie Eagles as director of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP).
Prior to her appointment, Eagles was ACDP’s deputy director and played a pivotal role in CSIRO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eagles is a veterinary epidemiologist with a background in vector-borne diseases and brings a wealth of experience in animal health and biosecurity preparedness in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
She is internationally renowned as a World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reference laboratory expert on bluetongue virus, and a WOAH and Australian qualified expert on the UN secretary-general mechanism’s roster for investigations of alleged use of chemical, biological or toxin weapons.
She spent three years as research director for CSIRO’s diagnosis, surveillance and response program, following eight years in the veterinary diagnostic team.
Eagles will commence in the role immediately, leading CSIRO’s high-containment facility in Geelong that helps protect Australia’s multi-billion-dollar livestock and aquaculture industries and emerging infectious disease threats.
Screen Australia appoints COO
Grainne Brunsdon has been promoted to chief operating officer of Screen Australia.
Brunsdon is currently Screen Australia’s director of content, where she has led production investment and development, distribution support, and business initiatives across Australian screen content.
Prior to joining Screen Australia in 2022, Brunsdon was head of Screen NSW, where she oversaw the state’s investment in the screen sector including production incentives and industry development, supporting NSW productions through the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Brunsdon was director of arts investment, engagement and development at Create NSW where she was instrumental in the introduction of the 50:50 by 2020 initiative addressing gender parity in the screen industry, and Screenability NSW initiative, which provided opportunities for practitioners with disability.
While at Screen NSW, she also worked as head of strategy, partnerships and industry development and manager of stakeholder relations and industry development. She oversaw the designation of Sydney as a UNESCO City of Film, and represented the global film cities on the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Steering Group.
Brunsdon succeeds Michael Brealey, who departed the agency in December 2023 after five years in the role. She will officially commence as COO on April 1.
New appointments to Climate Change Authority
The government has appointed Fiona Simson and Richard Bolt to membership of the Climate Change Authority (CCA) and re-appointed existing CEO Brad Archer.
Simson has been and is an important voice, with a wealth of experience in the agricultural sector. She was elected the first female leader of the National Farmers’ Federation in 2016, stepping down as its chair in 2023.
In 2023, she was elected to the board of the World Farmers’ Organisation, where she represents Australia and New Zealand.
Simson has run her family farm on the Liverpool Plains in NSW since 1997.
Bolt has deep experience in national climate and energy policy reform, and has driven technology innovation in the energy, resources and agriculture sectors throughout his career.
From 2006 to 2018, he held secretary roles in Victorian including the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources; the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development; and the Department of Primary Industries.
Bolt holds a master of public policy management from Monash University, a bachelor of electrical engineering from the University of South Australia, and a diploma of company directorship from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
He has also worked on Nous Group’s Net Zero Australia mapping project and is currently the chair of Hydro Tasmania.
The appointments of Simson and Bolt began on March 15 for a period of five years.
Archer was first appointed to the CCA in 2019 and his reappointment is intended to maintain continuity for the organisation. A career public servant, Archer started with the Treasury in 1991 and started working on climate policy in 2011.
Prior to joining CCA, he was first assistant secretary at the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Fresh leadership at the helm of WA’s astronomy research team
A new board chair and executive director have been named to lead the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).
Dr David Skellern had been appointed as the new ICRAR board chair, with Professor Simon Eillingsen taking on the role of executive director.
Skellern has held several leadership roles in recent years and has extensive experience in radio astronomy.
Skellern is a co-founder of the company Radiata, which aims to revolutionise high-speed wireless communication in collaboration with the CSIRO.
Eillingsen holds a PhD in Astrophysics and recently served as dean of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Tasmania. He has contributed to nearly 200 publications and served on several committees and advisory groups related to astronomy and s pace.
ICRAR is one of the largest radio astronomy research centres in the world and is an equal joint venture between Curtin University and the University of Western Australia with funding support from the state government.
ICRAR was originally established to support WA’s bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world’s largest radio telescope, and has evolved into a multi-disciplinary research centre for science, engineering and data-intensive astronomy.
Temporary members of the Classification Board
The government has appointed three temporary members to the Classification Board.
The board makes classification decisions and provides advice about the content of films, computer games and certain publications to help Australians make informed choices about what they and their families watch, read and play.
The appointments follow a national merit-based recruitment process, which identifies the candidates as being suitable for appointment to the board.
Stephen Walker is a driver trainer for Sydney Trains and was previously a train driver. He has worked for Chubb Fire Safety as a senior fire safety technician.
Guinevere Klevjer has a background in film and digital media and is currently employed as a human resources and administration coordinator at Paperjam Partners. She holds a bachelor of digital media from the University of NSW.
Evalena Chilas is a receptionist & administration manager with Aroma Zen Therapies. She has been involved in volunteer work at university and in her community, including a Greek youth community group.
New Zealand appoints new high commissioner to Australia
Andrew Needs has been named New Zealand’s next high commissioner to Australia.
Needs was a foreign policy advisor to the Clark and Key governments, working under Winston Peters and Murray McCully. Since 2010 he has served as high commissioner to Canada, and held senior roles in the foreign affairs and trade portfolio.
Most recently, he was division manager for South and Southeast Asia.
