Kenneth Norman Jones (17 April 1924 – 19 January 2022) was an Australian senior public servant.

Early life

Kenneth Jones was born in

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, on 17 April 1924. He attended the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce.

Career

Jones began his

Commonwealth 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 Gov ...

career in 1941 when he joined the Official Receiver's Office in Queensland. He was appointed to his first

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 ...

role in January 1973, at the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. He stayed head of that department for over ten years, and subsequently served as head of Department of Education and Youth Affairs (March 1983), Department of Administrative Services (March 1983 to December 1984) and the

Department of Local Government and Administrative Services The Department of Local Government and Administrative Services was an Australian government department that existed between December 1984 and July 1987. Scope Information about the department's functions and government funding allocat ...

(December 1984 to July 1987). In total, he was a secretary in the Australian Government for over 13 years, retiring in 1986.

Personal life and death

Jones died in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

on 19 January 2022, at the age of 97.

Awards

In the New Year's Honours List for 1969 Jones was created a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. In June 1986 he was made 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 ...

, for public service, particularly in the fields of education and departmental administration.

Notes

References and further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Kenneth Norman 1924 births 2022 deaths Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of Australia Secretaries of the Australian Government Education Department University of Queensland alumni People from Bundaberg