Senior Executive Service
Band 1
Sharna Bartley and Shaun Thomas are now national managers at Services Australia.
Alicia Barnes has been promoted to general manager for project delivery at the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Defence’s new assistant secretary for estate reform is Sarah Russell-Farnham.
Heather Cochrane has moved from the National Indigenous Australians Agency to Treasury as assistant secretary of the governance branch.
Reappointment of the ACMA chair
Nerida O’Loughlin has been reappointed chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
O’Loughlin has been reappointed for a three-year term, commencing on October 14, 2024, having first been appointed in 2017 and reappointed in 2022. Her reappointment provides continuity as the ACMA works to deliver important outcomes for consumers and industry in the communications and media sectors, and implements reforms being undertaken by the government.
She has led the ACMA’s work to strengthen telecommunications consumer safeguards, particularly for vulnerable Australians, and overseen the establishment of BetStop — the National Self-Exclusion Register and Australia’s first SMS ID Registry.
She has also led important work on media diversity, misinformation and disinformation on digital platforms, and supported improved digital connectivity through the allocation of valuable radio communications spectrum.
O’Loughlin has held numerous leadership positions across government agencies, including interim CEO of the Digital Transformation Agency, deputy secretary for content and arts strategy at the Department of Communications and Arts. She is an associate member of the ACCC.
She was awarded a public service medal in 2019 for contributions to digital government.
Duffy goes from zoo to garden
Simon Duffy will assume the role of chief executive of the Botanic Gardens of Sydney on June 3.
Duffy has spent 27 years at Taronga Zoo, leading its transformation from a traditional zoo to a conservation-driven organisation. During his time there, he has led education, tourism, science, conservation, place-making, and fundraising initiatives. Most recently, he worked as Taronga Zoo’s executive director.
He has worked with renowned primatologist Jane Goodall on primate conservation initiatives since 1997, serving as director and non-executive chair of the Jane Goodall Institute.
Duffy was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2019 in recognition of his work in conservation in Australia and Africa.
Savva returns to Old Parliament House
Veteran journalist and political commentator Niki Savva has been appointed to the board of Old Parliament House for a three-year term.
Savva worked in the press gallery of Old Parliament House for more than two decades until its closure. She has held numerous senior positions in the Australian media including bureau chief as a Washington correspondent, political editor at the Herald Sun, and political editor at The Age.
Savva also held senior adviser positions in the offices of former treasurer Peter Costello and former prime minister John Howard between 1998 and 2007.
Grimes joins carbon credit integrity body
Paul Grimes will join the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC), the body responsible for assuring the integrity of Australia’s carbon credit system.
Grimes has held senior roles across the Australian, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australian and Victorian public services, including secretary of NSW Treasury, NSW coordinator general for Environment, Energy and Science, secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Secretary of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
Grimes holds a PhD in economics from the Australian National University. In 2010, he was awarded the Public Service Medal for his role in the development of the Australian Government’s response to the 2007 global financial crisis.
He made headlines in 2015 when he fell out with his minister Barnaby Joyce over questions about the latter’s integrity following alterations to Hansard. He subsequently left the post, becoming Victorian Public Sector Commissioner in 2017.
NSWPSC gets new advisory board observer
The NSW Public Service Commission has named Melanie Jones its 2024 advisory board observer.
The Board Observership Program was established in 2022 to support the disability awareness and confidence of the PSC advisory board.
In her new role, Jones will contribute to discussions in board meetings to help champion the disability community in the NSW public sector and will receive personalised training and mentoring.
Jones is a senior social impact advisor at Service NSW, where she has worked for eight years.
Women’s Health Victoria announces CEO
Gender equality advocate and former government executive Sally Hasler will be the next CEO of Women’s Health Victoria.
Sally has extensive experience in gender equality and health organisations as an executive, non-executive director and volunteer. Most recently, Sally was a Director of the Victorian Office for Women.
She has held senior roles in The Fred Hollows Foundation, The Women’s Foundation Hong Kong and the Commonwealth Government. Sally is a non-executive Director of Lifeline Direct and a lifelong volunteer of St John Ambulance.
Hasler started her government career in 2005 as a budget officer with the federal Department of Finance, working as an advisor at Prime Minister and Cabinet and DFAT prior to moving into the non-government sector and taking on roles in the Victorian government.
Two magistrates join WA bench
Attorney-General John Quigley has announced the appointment of two new magistrates to the Court of Western Australia.
Samantha Martella and William Yoo will fill recently vacated positions and will also sit in Magistrates Court, as well as the Children’s Court, Warden’s Court and Industrial Court when required.
Martella joins the judiciary after more than five years as chief legal officer at the Department of Communities. Her public service career also includes acting as director of policy and reform at the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in 2018.
Prior to this, Martella served for more than nine years as a solicitor and solicitor in charge at Legal Aid WA in the Pilbara, where she acted in criminal and other matters in various courts.
In 2015, she received the WA Rural, Regional and Remote Woman Lawyer of the Year award.
Martella starts her new role on May 14, 2024.
Yoo was a prosecutor for the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions for eight years and senior solicitor at WA Police for five years.
Admitted to practice in 2007, he made the switch to his most recent position at the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA (ALSWA) in 2020.
At the ALSWA, Mr Yoo graduated from senior lawyer to in-house counsel for appeals. He has appeared as counsel across multiple courts with 17 years’ experience in criminal law.
Yoo starts his new role on May 6, 2024
Golden Plains Council appoints interim CEO
Michael Tudball has been appointed interim CEO of Golden Plains Shire Council in Victoria, following the resignation of Eric Braslis.
Tudball is a local government fixer, having worked in various roles across Victorian councils for over 20 years. He was Mayor of Moorabool Shire Council from 2018-2019.
He has previously held the roles of senior executive and CEO at Moira, Hindmarsh, Corangamite, Southern Grampians and Melton councils.
His roles for the Victorian state government include as director of school and community partnerships at the Department of Planning, Community and Environment and Director of the Department of Transport and Planning.
