Ian James Watt (born 18 June 1950) is an Australian retired

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 ...

, best known for his time as

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 from September 2011 to November 2014.

Background and career

Watt was born in Victoria and raised in

Reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's northern suburbs. He was educated at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

and joined the

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

in 1971 in the Victorian Division of the Post Master General's Department. He completed his honours degree at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

before commencing a cadetship with the Department of the Treasury in 1973. Watt completed his master's degree and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at La Trobe University before returning to The Treasury in 1985. He served as Minister (Economic) at the Embassy of Australia in Washington from 1991 to 1994. On his return to Australia, Watt was appointed First Assistant Secretary of the Economic Division, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, from March 1994 to November 1996; and was Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPM&C) and Executive Coordinator of the Economic, Industry and Resources Policy Group until March 2001. During his time at DPM&C, Watt completed the Advanced Management Program at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. In March 2001, Watt accepted appointment as the

of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, until his appointment as Secretary of the

Department of Finance and Administration The Department of Finance and Administration (also called DOFA) was an Australian government department tasked to contribute to sustainable Government finances; improved and more efficient Government operations; and efficiently functioning Parli ...

in January 2002. Watt became the longest serving Finance Secretary in April 2009. In August 2009 he accepted appointment as the Secretary of the Department of Defence, until his appointment to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in September 2011. Watt resigned from the role in November 2014. His departure had been speculated since the

Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

took office in September 2013. Watt is the former chair of the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

's (OECD's) Working Party of Senior Budget Officials. His appointments since resigning from the public service include directorships with the Grattan Institute and Citigroup Pty Limited. During April 2016, Watt was appointed Chair of SMART Infrastructure Facility's Advisory Council.

Honours

Watt 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 ...

in 2008. In 2016 Watt was appointed a Companion of the Order.

References

References and further reading

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Ian 1950 births Secretaries of the Australian Department of Defence Secretaries of the Australian Department of Finance Secretaries of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Living people La Trobe University alumni University of Melbourne alumni Officers of the Order of Australia Companions of the Order of Australia Public servants from Melbourne People from Reservoir, Victoria