Glyn Davis, secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, has resigned after serving the last three years as Australia’s top public servant.
Professor Davis’s resignation will be effective from 16 June, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday.
Mr Albanese recognised Professor Davis’s “outstanding contribution” towards rebuilding the capacity of the Australian Public Service (APS) during his government’s first term.
He said Professor Davis was instrumental in “rebuilding the confidence of … the APS, making sure they understood that the Government valued their ideas, respected their hard work and recognised their vital role in our democracy”.
“He worked calmly and steadily to reassert the purpose of the public service, and I thank him on behalf of the Government, the Australian Public Service, and the Australian people.”
Prior to his appointment as PM&C Secretary, Professor Davis was vice chancellor at Melbourne and Griffith universities and distinguished professor of political science at ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy. He served as director-general of Queensland’s Premier and Cabinet and co-authored The Australian Policy Handbook.
Sarah Proudfoot has been appointed chief executive officer of the ACCC following an extensive external recruitment process.
Ms Proudfoot started with the ACCC/AER in 2005 when she joined the agency’s Infocentre.
She has since held a range of senior roles in the agency, including executive general manager of the ACCC Infrastructure Division between 2020 and 2024 with oversight of the ACCC’s work across telecommunications, rail, ports, airports, electricity and gas, as well as the 2023 Childcare Inquiry.
Department of Veterans’ Affairs has promoted Alicja Mosbauer to chief data officer, following her role as special advisor for data governance.
Prior to the role, Ms Mosbauer served as chief data officer at IP Australia and has worked across government agencies to strengthen data capabilities. She also chaired the Generative AI Working Group.
CSIRO’s missions and strategic engagement, Cassandra Erbs has resigned from the agency following more than six years in the role, where she launched “multiple moonshots” according to her farewell LinkedIn post.
Ms Erbs said she had enjoyed “working with brilliant humans to tackle some of the country’s gnarliest challenges” and announced her new role will be at Advance Queensland, part of Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
Blue Economy CRC’s chief executive officer, John Whittington has announced his departure after five years in the role. Mr Whittington will take on the top role at Salmon Tasmania in the coming weeks.
Pledge 1% has announced Scott Farquhar will step into the role of board chair, marking a new chapter for the global movement that encourages companies to leverage their earnings for social good. The announcement was made in Sydney at an event attended by more than 100 people from across the startup and technology ecosystem.
Healthdirect Australia has appointed two new directors to its board, Dr Emily Kirkpatrick and Elizabeth MacLeod. Starting from May they have been appointed for a two-and-a-half year term following a merit-based recruitment process endorsed by Healthdirect’s shareholders.
Engineers Australia has appointed a new chief engineer, Katherine Richards AM CSC. Ms Richards replaces Bernadette Foley, who will continue her ongoing role as group executive, professional standards and engineering practice. Ms Richards joins Engineers Australia after a distinguished 36-year career in the Royal Australian Navy, where she rose to Rear Admiral in 2020. Her senior roles included Head Navy Engineering and Defence Seaworthiness Regulator.
Kane Thornton has resigned as Clean Energy Council chief executive officer, following 10 years of “intense leadership”, according to a statement on LinkedIn. He will step down from the role on 1 August, after 15 years at the renewable industry peak body.
Professor Drago Sijan has been appointed Professor of Practice in the Cisco-La Trobe Centre for AI and Internet of Things (Cisco AIoT).
Following eight months in the role, UK director of TechnologyOne, Leo Hanna has resigned from his position as well as his directorship of five other TechnologyOne UK subsidiaries, according to a report in The Australian. Mr Hanna denied reports the move stemmed from a row with the company’s Australian based chief operating officer.
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