In Australia, a departmental secretary is the most senior

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

of an

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

department. They are typically responsible for the day-to-day actions of a department.

Role

A departmental secretary is in theory, a non-political, non-elected public servant head (and "responsible officer") of government departments, who generally holds their position for a number of years. 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 A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

of a government department in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and is similar to the director general in some non-Commonwealth countries, or the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) in a private company. In the Australian government, secretaries are the responsible officers for departments. They are answerable to the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

for ensuring that the department performs all 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'' requires the

secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to provide a report to the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the day 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 Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

on the advice of the prime minister under Sections 58 and 59 respectively of the ''Act''. Since removal of

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

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. In the first Rudd government, secretaries were appointed for a five-year term; prior to this a term of three years was common. In 1999, the Howard government sought to remove Paul Barratt as the secretary of the Department of Defence after Barratt fell out of favour with his minister. Despite being offered a diplomatic post, Barratt refused to vacate the role and commenced legal action, claiming

unfair dismissal In labour law, unfair dismissal is an act of employment termination made without good reason or contrary to the country's specific legislation. Situation per country Australia Australia has long-standing protection for employees in relation to ...

and that the government had failed to follow

due process Due process of law is application by the state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case so all legal rights that are owed to a person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual p ...

. Barratt had a temporary stay, but was dismissed within 14 days, and subsequently lost, on appeal in the Federal Court. The most senior Commonwealth public servant is the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, currently Glyn Davis.

Current Australian Government secretaries

There are currently 16 secretaries within the Australian Government.

References

{{reflist Politics of Australia Victoria State Government Government occupations Government of Australia

Role

Appointment and termination

Current Australian Government secretaries

See also

References