Andrew Leigh Clarke is a former senior Australian public servant who served as Secretary of several departments and as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

to Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

, before his retirement in April 2017. Since his retirement from the public service he has been appointed to the board of

NBN Co NBN Co Limited, known simply as nbn, is a state-owned corporation of the Australian Government, tasked to design, build and operate Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) as the nation's wholesale broadband provider. NBN Co reports to tw ...

and is to become chairman of the

Australian Energy Market Operator The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) performs an array of gas and electricity market, operational, development and planning functions. It manages the National Electricity Market (NEM), the Wholesale Electricity Market (WA) (WEM) and the ...

(AEMO).

Life and career

Clarke has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Surveying) from

RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

, a Master of Science from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, and a Diploma from the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

. As a former surveyor who had worked in Australia and Antarctica, Clarke joined the Energy area of the

Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources The Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources was an Australian government department that existed between November 2001 and December 2007. Scope Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation can b ...

in 2002 and moved to the newly created

Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism was an Australian Government department. It was formed in December 2007 and dissolved on 18 September 2013. The majority of its functions were assumed by the Department of Industry; with the excep ...

in December 2007. Clarke was promoted to secretary of the department in April 2010. Clarke was appointed chair of the Australian New Zealand Land Information Council (

ANZLIC ANZLIC, or The Spatial Information Council, is the peak intergovernmental organisation providing leadership in the collection, management and use of spatial information in Australia and New Zealand. It supports the establishment of a Spatial Dat ...

) in 2011, to replace

Warwick Watkins Warwick Arthur Watkins (1950–2019) was a disgraced senior New South Wales public servant and former member of the Australia national rugby union team, the Wallabies. Early life Watkins was born in Newcastle, New South Wales on 8 February 1950. ...

who was dismissed from the NSW Public Service for corruption. Clarke was appointed to head the

Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in February 2013, an appointment for five years from 11 March 2013. Following the elevation of Communications Minister

to the Prime Ministership in the September 2015 Liberal leadership spill, Clarke became Turnbull's

. Although originally agreeing only to establish the new prime minister's office and retire after the 2016 federal election, Clarke stayed on until he retired in April 2017. He was appointed to the board of nbn from 22 August 2017 for a three-year term on 15 August 2017. He was appointed to the board of

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

from 24 August 2017 for a five year term. On 20 October 2017 the Australian Energy Market Operator

AEMO The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) performs an array of gas and electricity market, operational, development and planning functions. It manages the National Electricity Market (NEM), the Wholesale Electricity Market (WA) (WEM) and the ...

announced Mr Clarke had been appointed chair commencing 2 November 2017.

Awards

Clarke was awarded a Public Service Medal on the Queen's Birthday 2009 "for outstanding public service in driving significant reform of the energy market". He was elected a

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering There are almost 900 living fellows of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. The post-nominal is FTSE. The following lists many notable living and deceased Fellows. Post-nominal statistics ;Numbers of active/living Fellows i ...

in 2011. Clarke was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) on Australia Day 2016 "for distinguished service to public administration, to communications and energy policy initiatives and reform, and to the spatial information industry".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Drew Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Public Service Medal (Australia) Ohio State University alumni NBN Co people Chiefs of staff to the prime minister of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering