James Scully is a retired senior Australian public servant. He is best known for his time in the Australian Government trade department.

Life and career

Scully was the son of William Scully, a federal Labor MP and government minister. He studied English and History at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

, going on to join 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 ...

in 1949, in the Department of Trade and Customs as a junior clerk. Between 1961 and 1963, Scully was Assistant Trade Commissioner in Cairo. In 1967, Scully was appointed a First Assistant Secretary in the Department of Trade and Industry, heading the trade services section. In August 1975, Scully was appointed to his first

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

role, heading the Department of Minerals and Energy. He went on to fill the Secretary position at the Department of National Resources (1975–1977), the Department of Trade and Resources (1977–1983) and the Department of Trade (1983–1984). In 1981, he led bilateral talks on resources development with South Korea. After retiring from the public service, Scully moved into a private sector career. He headed an independent committee advising the ACT Government on the Very Fast Train project. For a time in the 1990s, Scully was a director at

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, ...

. He resigned following a September 1992 board meeting in which a loss of $1.5 billion was announced.

Awards

Scully was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 1984 for his public service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scully, Jim Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian public servants Officers of the Order of Australia University of Sydney alumni 20th-century Australian businesspeople