Neville Robert Stevens is a former senior Australian public servant and policymaker. He currently works as a consultant and serves on a number of boards.
Life and career
Stevens 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 December 1990, as head of the
Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce
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, ...
, having been a Deputy Secretary in the department for over five years. He continued in the top job when the department was abolished and replaced with the
Department of Industry, Technology and Regional Development in March 1993.
He was moved to the
Department of Communications when it was established in December 1993.
He stayed at the Communications Department in the Secretary role as its functions expanded, first becoming the
Department of Communications and the Arts
The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts was a Government department, department of the Government of Australia charged with responsibility for communications policy and programs and cultural affairs.
In December 2019, prime mi ...
in 1994,
and later the
in 1998.
During his time as departmental Secretary of the Communication Department, Stevens was closely involved in telecommunications reform, broadcasting policy and IT industry development. He oversaw government IT policy during a period of tremendous change. He also served on the Council of the
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
.
Neville Stevens retired from 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 2001. In 2003, he was appointed Chair of the Australian Centre for Advanced Computing and Communications Board.
Stevens was appointed Chair of the Cooperative Research Centres Committee in July 2010.
Awards
Stevens was awarded the
Centenary Medal
The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...
in 2001 for service to the
Centenary of Federation celebrations. 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 ...
in January 2003 for service in the field of public sector administration, particularly oversighting the implementation of reforms in the information technology and telecommunications industries, and to the community through executive membership of a range of cultural and artistic organisations.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Neville
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Australian public servants
National Library of Australia Council members
Officers of the Order of Australia