Michele Denise Bruniges is an Australian teacher and education administrator. In April 2016 she began her role 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 Australian Government Department of Education and Training. Bruniges has a doctorate of philosophy in educational measurement, a master's degree in education from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

, a graduate diploma in educational studies and a diploma in teaching from the

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

College of Advanced Education.

Career

Bruniges began her teaching career in 1980 at

Leppington Leppington is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leppington is located 52 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government areas of the City of Li ...

Public School prior to becoming a high school teacher of mathematics and computing at St Johns Park High School and Ingleburn High School. She also taught in TAFE NSW and the Adult Migrant Education Service. From 2005 to 2008 Bruniges was chief executive of the ACT Department of Education and Training. She held various federal positions with the

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations The Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) was a department of the Government of Australia. It was formed in 2007 and absorbed the former departments of Education, Science and Training, and Employment a ...

(DEEWR), including deputy secretary for the Office of Early Childhood Education and Child Care; and deputy secretary, Schools and Associate Secretary, Schools and Youth. She was appointed as

director-general A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of the NSW Department of Education and Training in July 2011 and commenced on 7 September 2011. From 2012 to 2015 Bruniges was also an honorary adjunct professor of education in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the

. In March 2016, 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 ...

announced Bruniges' appointment as the secretary of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. Since February 2020, the department has been known as

Department of Education, Skills and Employment The Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) was a department of the Government of Australia, existing between 1 February 2020 to 1 July 2022 from a merger of the Department of Education (2019–2020) and Department of ...

. The department is now known as the Department of Education. Bruniges finished her tenure on 4 April 2023 and was replaced by Tony Cook.

Honours

*Member of the Order of Australia (AM), 26 January 2012. :For service to public administration through executive roles, and as a contributor to reform in the education sector at state and national levels. *Presidential Citation, Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL), 2011. :For high level leadership of public education. *Fellow of the Australian College of Educators (FACE), 2009. :For a distinguished career in educational leadership and management and in particular valued and well respected contributions to school education sustained over many years. *

Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

, 2000. :To investigate ways to monitor, analyse and report progress in student achievement in the US and The Netherlands.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruniges, Michele Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian schoolteachers Computer science educators Australian mathematics educators Australian women educators University of New South Wales alumni Members of the Order of Australia Secretaries of the Australian Government Education Department People from Tumut