Senior Executive Service
Band 1
Sobet Haddad will be the next chief lawyer at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The Australian Submarine Agency has named Chen Xu assistant secretary for offshore patrol vessels.
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has a new branch head in Shaun Barclay.
Kristen Price has moved from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to the Department of Health and Aged Care as assistant secretary.
Band 2
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has promoted Sally Box to division head.
Selena Patrick is now first assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Band 3
One of Australia’s top spooks has been promoted from SES 2 at the Australian Signals Directorate to deputy director-general of digital and technology at the Office of National Intelligence.
Highest paid mandarin departs NBN Co early
Stephen Rue will end his tenure as CEO of NBN Co two years short of his expected 2026 end date.
He will take on a new role as CEO of telco Optus; chief financial officer Phillip Knox will serve as interim CEO until a replacement can be found.
Rue joined NBN Co in 2014 as chief financial officer, becoming CEO in 2018. In his decade at NBN, he led the nation’s broadband rollout.
Before joining the public service Rue spent 17 years in leadership roles at News Corp Australia, including a decade as chief financial officer. He has served as director on a number of associated boards, including Foxtel, Fox Sports, REA Group and Australian Associated Press, as well as having been chair of the Communication Newspaper Group in Perth and Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club.
Rue is a chartered accountant and holds a bachelor of business studies and a diploma in professional accounting.
Rue is one of a number of senior public servants who have been targeted for criticism since 2020 for earning several times more than the prime minister. In Rue’s case, around $3 million a year.
Tydd gets top job at OAIC
Australia’s next information commissioner will be Elizabeth Tydd, replacing outgoing commissioner Angelene Falk on August 16.
As head of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), Tydd will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of the agency and for its performance and corporate functions.
Tydd started her current role of freedom of information commissioner in February, alongside new privacy commissioner Carly Kind as part of an overhaul of the leadership structure of the OAIC. Prior to this, she was CEO of the NSW Information and Privacy Commission — a role she held alongside being NSW information commissioner from 2013 – 2023.
Prior to this, she was executive director of the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing from 2009 to 2013. Between 1997 and 2009, she held a number of senior roles at the New South Wales Department of Fair Trading, including assistant commissioner for compliance and legal group and deputy chairperson of the consumer Trade and Tenancy Tribunal.
She holds a Bachelor and Master of Laws from the University of Technology, and has been known to write columns on information and privacy for the world’s best public service periodical.
Thodey joins ServiceNow
Legendary public servant David Thodey has found his next challenge, joining digital infrastructure provider ServiceNow as a strategic advisor.
Thodey is best known in public sector circles as the chair of the 2019 Australia Public Sector Review, and deputy chair of the National COVID-19 Commission Advisory Board. Earlier this year, he was elected chancellor of Sydney University.
Thodey is currently chair of Ramsay Health Care, technology company Xero and Australia’s largest technology and innovation hub, Tech Central. He was chair of the board of Australia’s national scientific research agency the CSIRO and is co-chair of the board of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Previously, he acted as CEO of Telstra and of IBM in Australia and New Zealand.
Thodey was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 for integrity and leadership in business, and has been awarded honorary doctorates from three universities — business from the University of Sydney and UTS, and in science and technology from Deakin University.
Thodey is expected to start as the 19th chancellor later this year, replacing Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson, who has reached the 12-year term limit.
Leadership changes at TESQA
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) chief commissioner Peter Coaldrake has resigned from his position, effective May 10, 2024.
Coaldrake said with the Universities Accord moving into the implementation phase, it was time for new leadership at the higher education regulator.
Professor Coaldrake was appointed by former education minister Dan Tehan in 2020, replacing Nick Saunters. Prior to this, he had a distinguished career in higher education, having served as vice-chancellor and CEO of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) from 2003 to 2017.
A dual Fulbright scholar, he is also a former chair of Universities Australia and the governing board of the OECD’s then-higher education group. In October 2018, Coaldrake was appointed by the Education minister to conduct a review of Higher Education Provider Category Standards.
Coaldrake led a review into trust and transparency in the Queensland government that led to their recently implemented proactive release scheme.
Education Minister Jason Clare indicated a new chief commissioner will be appointed in due course, with an acting chief commissioner to take the helm upon Coldrake’s departure.
TEQSA has concreted existing leadership, with the appointment of Mary Russell as CEO for a five-year term.
Russell has been acting in the role since June last year, following the departure of Alistair Maclean after two years.
Russell joined TEQSA as executive director of regulatory operations in 2022. In this role, she has led the regulatory teams that manage higher education provider registration, course accreditation, compliance and regulatory risk assessments. Before joining TEQSA, she was assistant ombudsman for dispute resolution at the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
She held executive roles at the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) for six years, including as state manager for Victoria, national manager of notifications and national manager of regulatory risk strategy.
Russell has served as chair and member of regulatory boards, concurrently with roles as a health practitioner and a tertiary educator. She has extensive experience in university teaching, curriculum development and delivery. She completed a PhD in health sciences in 2009.
Appointment to the Creative Workplaces Council
Minister for the Arts Tony Burke has appointed Simon Abrahams a member of the Creative Workplaces Council for a four-year term.
Chaired by former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins, the Creative Workplaces Council was established last year in response to complaints about widespread risk, inequality and discrimination in the arts industry.
Abrahams has worked in the creative arts for over 20 years as a festival director, creative producer and arts advocate.
He is currently of CEO of Melbourne Fringe, and was a member of the City of Melbourne’s Night Time Economy Activation Taskforce.
Abrahams is a co-founder of Theatre Network Australia, serving as its chair from 2010‑2017. He previously served as head of programming at the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, executive producer and co-chief executive officer at Polyglot Theatre.
Queensland boosts Coroners Court
The Victorian government has appointed two new coroners to deal with an upward trend in caseloads over the last decade.
Former chief legal counsel for Queensland Health Megan Fairweather and barrister Amanda Bain will join Queensland’s Coroners Court on May 7, 2024.
Fairweather led Queensland Health’s legal branch, overseeing commercial, clinical and coronial matters. Prior to that, she was a special counsel at Minter Ellison for 10+ years.
She is a board member at Queensland Aged and Disability Advocacy Service and has worked as a general counsel for the Health Quality and Complaints Commission.
Bain has over 20 years’ experience as a barrister for the Queensland government. Her government career includes eight years at the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions, and 13 at Crown Law in the Prosecutions team, ultimately to the role of managing the team.
Faulkner joins NSW bench
Senior counsel Tim Faulkner has been appointed a judge of the common law division of the NSW Supreme Court.
Faulkner was admitted as a solicitor in 1990 after studying a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of Economics at Australian National University. He also completed a Master of Laws at the University of Sydney in 1995.
He worked for King & Wood Mallesons in Sydney and Herbert Smith in London before he was called to the Bar in 1999. He took silk in 2014 and is currently a member of 12 Wentworth Selborne Chambers.
In 2020, he acted for corporate regulator ASIC in Australian Securities and Investments Commission v MLC Nominees Pty Ltd, resulting in a civil penalty of $57.5 million — one of the largest civil penalties obtained by ASIC.
UWS reveals new vice-chancellor
The University of Western Sydney has revealed constitutional law expert George Williams will be their fifth vice-chancellor.
Williams is deputy vice-chancellor at the University of NSW. He has served as Dean of UNSW Law and held an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship.
His government experience includes acting as a senior advisor on federal-state relations, and the NSW government’s Panel to Examine Recall Elections.
He has appeared as a barrister in the High Court in many cases over the past two decades, including on freedom of speech, freedom from racial discrimination and the rule of law. He has also appeared in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of Fiji, including on the legality of the 2000 coup.
As chair of the Victorian Human Rights Consultation Committee in 2005, Williams helped bring about Australia’s first State bill of rights — the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. In 2007 he chaired the NSW government inquiry into Options for a New National Industrial Relations System.
His experience in higher education includes serving as chair of the Australian Laureate Fellowships Selection Advisory Committee for the Australian Research Council. He was an invited member of the inaugural ERA Research Evaluation Humanities and Creative Arts Committee.
Williams has written and edited 37 books on Australian High Court and constitutional matters, and has been a visiting scholar at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Columbia University Law School in New York, and Durham University and University College London in the United Kingdom.
Williams was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2011 for distinguished service to the law in the fields of anti-terrorism, human rights and constitutional law.
He will commence in July, succeeding Barney Glover who was named Jobs and Skills Commissioner in February.
