Senior Executive Service
Band 1
Andrew Crosthwaite is the next assistant secretary for finance, specialist groups and capability costing at the Department of Defence.
The Department of Parliamentary Services has promoted Alicia Lewis to chief of staff.
Parker Reeve is now assistant secretary of the electronic surveillance branch at the Attorney-General’s Department.
Band 2
Services Australia’s new general manager is Jordan Hatch.
Australia’s 28th head of state
Sam Mostyn has been sworn in as Australia’s 28th governor-general at Parliament House this week.
Mostyn is the first woman and first civilian to hold the position since 25th governor-general Quentin Bryce left the office in 2014.
Mostyn has worked across a range of sectors, including government, business, advocacy and the legal sector. She has been a trailblazer for women in leadership, having been the first female AFL commissioner, from 2005 to 2016. She is credited with sowing the seeds of the AFLW boom.
Early in her career, she worked as a communications advisor to Paul Keating, and for legendary Australian judge Michael Kirby in the NSW Court of Appeals.
She has worked at senior levels in telecommunications and insurance companies in Australia and globally. She has also held senior non-executive roles on boards, including Mirvac, Transurban and Virgin Australia, and has been chair of Citibank Australia, AWARE Super and Alberts Music Group.
Mostyn has chaired multiple not-for-profit boards, including Beyond Blue, the Foundation of Young Australians, Australians Investing in Women, Ausfilm, and the Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety and Australian Volunteers International. She has been president of the Australian Council for International Development and president of Chief Executive Women as well as a National Mental Health Commissioner.
In 2021, Mostyn was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to business, the community and women. She has been a member of the Australian Faculty of The Prince of Wales’ Business & Sustainability Programme for 12 years, and a senior associate in the International Programme.
The governor-general holds office at the pleasure of The King, however the term is usually understood to be five years.
Designated complainants to ACCC chosen
Three consumer and small business advocates have been named designated complainants to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Designated complainants will be able to submit complaints about significant or systemic market issues affecting Australian consumers or small businesses.
The approved designated complainants are the Australian Consumers’ Association (CHOICE), the Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC) and the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA).
CHOICE is the largest member‑based consumer organisation in Australia. It has extensive experience supporting consumers from across Australia, including through independent testing, research and advocacy.
CALC is a consumer advocacy organisation and community legal centre that has represented the interests of Australian consumers for nearly 2 decades, with a focus on consumers who are experiencing vulnerability and disadvantage.
COSBOA is a peak body exclusively representing the interests of small businesses. It has a long history of advocacy across a range of small business issues.
Each organisation has been approved as a designated complainant until July 1, 2027.
Curriculum authority gets Gniel
Stephen Gniel will serve a three-year term as the next CEO of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
Gniel is a career educator and education administrator, who entered the ACT public service after working as a school principal. Previous leadership roles include director-general of the ACT Education and Training Directorate, deputy secretary at the Victorian Department of Education and Training and CEO of the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority.
From 2016 to 2022, he was national president of the
He has been acting in the role since the departure of David de Carvalho last November.
Quigley joins nuclear science agency
Michael Quigley has joined the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
Quigley is an experienced telecommunications leader best known for being the first CEO of NBN Co from 2009 to 2013.
He joined the telecommunications firm Alcatel as a cadet electrical engineer in 1971, eventually becoming president and CEO before his departure in 2007.
Quigley is an adjunct professor at the University of Technology (UTS), director of the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute and co-authored the book Changing Jobs: The Fair Go in the New Machine Age in 2017 with Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
In 2022, Quigley was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to telecommunications and education.
Experienced chief operating officer joins Service Australia
Randall Brugeaud has started his new job as chief operating officer at Services Australia.
Previous public sector leadership positions include CEO of the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA), chief operating officer of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), chief information officer at Australian Border Force, at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and its predecessor agencies.
Brugeaud is a board member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA).
Appointments to the Australian War Memorial Council
Three new members will join the Australian War Memorial Council.
Lorraine Hatton is a distinguished Australian Army veteran recognised as a pioneer for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous servicewomen.
Hatton is a member of the Australian War Memorial Indigenous Advisory Working Group, the Indigenous Elder of the Australian Army, a patron of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans Association and a board member of the Queensland Legacy Cabinet Fundraising Bring it Home Campaign.
Warren Snowdon is a former minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel. Snowdon was also minister assisting the Prime Minister on the Centenary of Anzac and is a member of the Soldier On Board.
Karen Bird is deputy chair of the National Advisory Committee for Open Arms, a post-doctoral fellow with the ARC Research Project, and a founding committee member of the Suffering of War and Service Project at the Australian War Memorial.
They replace outgoing members Josephine Stone, Rhondda Vanzella and James McMahon.
Glenn Keys, Susan Neuhaus and Greg Melick have had their membership on the council extended.
Keys has been a council member since 2021, executive chair of Aspen Medical, and has a distinguished career in the ADF. Mr Keys will commence on July 1, 2024, for three years.
Neuhaus has been a council member since 2018. She is a patron of the Virtual War Memorial, with a distinguished career in the ADF.
Major General Melick has been a council member since 2018. He is national president of the Returned and Services Leagues of Australia, with more than 50 years’ experience serving in the Australian Army Reserve.
Attorney-General names ciggie commissioner
Erin Dale will act in the newly established role of illicit tobacco and e‑cigarette commissioner until a formal appointment is made.
Dale is currently an Australian Border Force (ABF) assistant commissioner, leading the Tobacco and E-Cigarette Taskforce.
She has previously held senior executive positions across ABF, including leading national and regional border operations at Australian ports, and overseeing travel, trade facilitation, and enforcement functions.
Special envoy to Afghanistan
Amanda McGregor will be Australia’s next special representative for Afghanistan, replacing Glenn Miles.
McGregor has served in numerous diplomatic postings in the Middle East, most recently as deputy head of mission at the Australian embassy in Lebanon.
Before working for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, McGregor was a senior adviser to the Canadian embassy and Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet.
Wong deploys ambassadors
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has announced new Australian ambassadors for Cambodia, Honolulu, Morocco, Nepal and Vanuatu.
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia Derek Yip was most recently assistant secretary of the East Asia Political Branch at DFAT. He has previously served two postings to China.
Consul-general in Honolulu Greg Wilcock was most recently assistant secretary Media and Communications Delivery Branch at DFAT. He has previously served as Australia’s consul-general in Mumbai, high commissioner to Bangladesh, and has worked in Australia’s missions in Washington, Jakarta and Dili.
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco Damien Donavan was most recently director of DFAT’s Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives section. He has previously served overseas in the United States and Brunei Darussalam, and as an Australian Civilian Representative in Afghanistan.
Ambassador to Nepal Leann Johnston was most recently acting high commissioner in Abuja. She has previously served overseas in Fiji, France, Spain, Afghanistan, Kenya, Sweden, Germany, Türkiye and New Zealand.
High commissioner to the Republic of Vanuatu Max Willis was most recently A/g First Assistant Secretary, Melanesia Division, Office of the Pacific. He has previously served overseas in the Solomon Islands, the United States and Papua New Guinea.
VIC Ambulance board welcomes new members
Ambulance Victoria has announced three new directors will join its board.
Andrew Crisp is a former Victorian emergency management commissioner, a role he assumed following a distinguished 40-year career with Victoria Police.
Fergus Kerr has been chief medical officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital since 2022. He was previously group director of medical services and clinical governance at Cabrini Health and held a series of senior leadership positions including chief medical officer at Austin Health, and executive director of medical services at Peninsula Health.
Allison Smith is recognised as a leader in financial analysis and reporting. She has held senior finance, retail, merchandise, marketing, supply chain and IT roles in some of Australia’s most influential organisations.
They replace outgoing directors Joanna Flynn, Ian Forsyth and Peter Lewinsky.
Experts to advise on QLD energy system
The Queensland government has revealed the members of the Energy System Advisory Board (QESAB).
The new Board will be led by Leeanne Bond — a Queensland engineer who has helped shape some of the nation’s most important green energy projects.
Bond has more than 30 years’ experience in the Australian energy sector, including 20 years as a chair, advisor, and company director
The other board members are:
- Mark Carkeet, a solicitor and consultant for the energy and resources sector working on projects in Australia, the Pacific and Asia. He is a consultant for Minter Ellison and has provided advice to government on strategic energy initiatives including the Priority Transmission Investment framework and Renewable Energy Zone framework.
- Peter Price, chief engineer of Energy Queensland. He is on the Board of Energy Skills Queensland, a member of the board of TAFE Queensland and a member of the Australian Energy Market Commission Reliability Panel. Price previously served as an executive general manager at Energex.
- Jo Sheppard has spent the past 20 years working in roles that support Queensland’s regional communities across multiple sectors. She is the CEO of the Queensland Farmers Federation, and has worked to develop the Queensland Renewable Energy Landholder Toolkit for landholders considering hosting a project on their property.
- Paul Simshauser has more than 30 years’ experience in Queensland’s electricity sector working in ASX-listed, private and government-owned companies. and in the public sector. He is the CEO of Powerlink and a part-time professor of economics at the Centre of Applied Energy Economics and Policy Research at Griffith University.
- Leann Wilson, a Bidjara/Kara-Kara and South Sea Islander descendant, recognised experienced executive, business owner and First Nations leader. She works with businesses, government, and communities to facilitate collaboration between Indigenous Australians and the energy and resources sector.
- Kathryn Summers, a power control engineer with over 25 years’ electrical, market and regulatory experience. She was awarded the Professional Electrical Engineer of the Year in 2020.
New WorkSafe WA commissioner appointed
Sally North has started her new role as Western Australia’s WorkSafe commissioner.
North has more than 23 years’ experience in WA’s occupational health and safety sector, including as acting WorkSafe commissioner and acting deputy WorkSafe commissioner.
With regulatory experience across a wide range of sectors, she has a background in occupational hygiene and experience working with specialists in areas such as human factors, ergonomics, plant and engineering.
Prior to joining WorkSafe in 2001, North worked as a chemical safety consultant and as an occupational safety and health officer.
South Australia’s public trustee
Tony Brumfield has been promoted to South Australia’s Public Trustee, replacing Nicolle Rantanen on July 1.
The Public Trustee provides financial advice and administration services to South Australians who require assistance in managing their personal affairs.
Brumfield has been chief operating officer at the public trustee’s office for 12 years.
Prior to that, he held executive Corporate Services and Finance positions with Defence SA, Primary Industries and Resources SA, the Department of Treasury and Finance, and the Environment Department.
Melbourne’s 105th lord mayor sworn in
Nicholas Reece has been sworn in as the 105th lord mayor of Melbourne.
Reece was elected to councillor in 2016 and deputy lord mayor in 2020. He currently also holds the positions of director of strategic policy at the University of Melbourne, and Movember chair.
He has held numerous legal, political, and media roles including director of strategy to the Prime Minister from 2010-2013, business journalist for the Australian Financial Review, director of The Big Issue, and principal fellow at the Melbourne School of Government.
He will remain in the position until council elections take place in October this year.