A breakdown of the latest appointments, public hearings and open consultations in the APS and across the ACT public service.
APS Senior Executive Service
Band 1
Sharon Alley has been made the new chief financial officer of the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) now has Kate Watson as an assistant secretary. Jordan George has been promoted to assistant secretary within Treasury.
Amelia Charlton and Maureen Greet have been promoted by the Department of Defence to SES1 at Defence Digital Group.
Band 2
The Attorney-General’s Department has taken on Paul Conan as a deputy inspector-general of intelligence and security.
Other federal
Expert advisory group on climate change and health named
The Federal Government has established an expert advisory group to provide advice on reducing the impacts of climate change on Australia’s health.
The Climate and Health Expert Advisory Group will also support the implementation of Australia’s first National Health and Climate Strategy. It is a whole-of-government plan that sets out actions to reduce the health system’s contribution to climate change and build a high-quality net-zero health system.
This group is chaired by Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney, but also includes:
- Chief Medical Officer and head of the Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control – Professor Paul Kelly (deputy chair)
- Chair of the Multi-College Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Health – Professor Lynne Madden
- President of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACG) – Professor Jennifer Martin
- President of the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) – Professor Tarun Weeramanthri
- Chief executive officer (CEO) of Medicines Australia – Elizabeth de Somer
- CEO of Catholic Health Australia – Jason Kara
- CEO of the Climate and Health Alliance – Michelle Isles
- Executive director of Doctors for the Environment Australia – Dr Kate Wylie
- CEO of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia – Associate Professor Steve Morris
- Centre for Sustainable Medicine director at the National University of Singapore (NUS) – Professor Nick Watts
- Interim CEO of Asthma Australia – Doris Whitmore.
Australia’s first National Health and Climate Strategy was launched at COP28 in Dubai last December by Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney. Photo: Screenshot.
Deputy chair and member appointed to ACNC board
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Advisory Board now has Sara Harrup as a part-time deputy chair and Nick Maisey as a part-time member.
Ms Harrup’s three-year appointment was made in recognition of her contributions to the board, of which she has been a member since 1 August last year. Mr Maisey founded Befriend in 2010 to address isolation and loneliness by facilitating social connection across Western Australia.
Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh thanked outgoing deputy chair Heather Watson for her contributions to the advisory board over the past seven years, especially as chair of the ACNC’s Performance Audit and Risk Committee.
Major appointments within the RBA
The Reserve Bank of Australia has promoted Carl Schwartz and Dr Michael Plumb to head note issue and economic analysis, respectively.
In his new role, Mr Schwartz will be responsible for the department producing and issuing Australia’s banknotes, ensuring they are of high quality and the threat of counterfeiting is low.
Dr Plumb is in charge of the department’s monitoring and forecasting trends in both the domestic and international economies, advising governors and the Reserve Bank board on developments and monetary policy.
Mr Schwartz has been acting head of domestic markets since April last year. Before this, he held several senior roles across foreign reserves management, economic analysis, financial stability and payments policy, including as RBA adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Dr Plumb has been in several senior roles across the RBA, most recently as head of the banking department, then as the RBA chief representative in New York, deputy head of economic analysis and deputy head of economic research.
Carl Schwartz (left) will begin his role as the RBA’s head of note issue on 30 September, while Dr Michael Plumb will be the head of economic analysis from 20 August. Photo: RBA.
Appointments to national gallery and AFTRS councils
Arts Minister Tony Burke has announced the appointments of Fiona Donovan as a member of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) Council, and Samuel Edwards to the National Gallery of Australia Council.
The AFTRS is Australia’s leading specialist education, training and research institution supporting excellence in Australian screen and audio storytelling. Ms Donovan has worked at the AFTRS in various roles over the past eight years, including as a lecturer and industry mentor.
The national gallery is dedicated to collecting, sharing and celebrating art from Australia and the world. Mr Edwards is the managing director of Edwards Constructions, but is also a previous chair of the Bundanon and Crown Lands Killalea State Park Trust Boards.
Australia and Indonesia sign Mutual Recognition Arrangement
Australia has signed its 11th Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), with Indonesia, recognising our closest neighbour and one of the world’s fastest-growing economies as an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO).
MRAs allow customs administrations to streamline border processing of goods. When such an arrangement is made between customs administrations with equivalent AEO programs – such as Indonesia – it becomes an AEO MRA.
In 2022-23, Indonesia was Australia’s 13th-largest two-way trading partner by value ($26.2 billion) and ninth-largest export market ($15.7 billion). The Australian Border Force’s other AEO MRAs are with the customs administrations of India, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram APM (left) and the Indonesian Director General of Customs and Excise, Askolani, signed the arrangement at the 23rd Customs-to-Customs Talks in Canberra. Photo: ABF.
Professor William Partlett named inaugural fellow at Centre for Public Integrity
Associate Professor William Partlett is the inaugural Stephen Charles Fellow at the Centre for Public Integrity.
Professor Partlett has previously collaborated significantly with the centre, including work on the Victorian Pandemic Management Act, which led to the government ceding control of the Integrity and Oversight Committee.
His fellowship research will explore how Australian states and territories have navigated integrity legislation, with a particular emphasis on corruption prevention. This will involve ensuring that anti-corruption commissions have the power to prevent corruption in the future by identifying vulnerabilities and recommending solutions to ongoing and systemic corruption risks.
Currently an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne Law School, he has published three books and more than 30 academic articles, making him a leading voice in constitutional law in Australia. He is also a past fellow of the US-based Brookings Institution.
Open for consultation
Reforming mergers and acquisitions draft legislation
The Federal Government is calling for submissions on draft legislation reforming Australia’s merger approval system to make it faster, stronger, simpler, more targeted and transparent. The legislation will take effect at the beginning of 2026, subject to its passage through Parliament. Feedback is open until 13 August.
Truth and Justice Commission Bill
The Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs is seeking submissions to its parliamentary inquiry into the Truth and Justice Commission Bill 2024, introduced by Yamatji-Noongar Senator Dorinda Cox.
The bill proposes to establish a Federal Truth and Justice Commission, which would provide a national framework for truth-telling about the history and impacts of colonisation, dispossession, and systemic racism on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The commission would also make recommendations on how to advance justice, healing, raise awareness and increase public understanding, and reconciliation for First Nations communities and the wider Australian society.
Submissions are welcome until 6 September.
Template CLG constitution for ACNC
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is reviewing its template constitution for public companies limited by guarantee, or CLGs. It aims to provide charities that are CLGs with a document that they can adapt for their own use when developing or modifying their constitution. Responses to the short survey will remain open until 23 September.
National Safety and Quality Medical Imaging Standards
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is undertaking a consultation on the National Safety and Quality Medical Imaging (NSQMI) Standards. These standards will replace the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme Standards. Stage 1 consultation is open until 27 September, with Stage 2 starting in October.
Gorgon gas development: Backfill fields offshore project proposal
Chevron Australia Pty Ltd is the operator of the Gorgon gas development, one of Australia’s largest natural gas projects, located off the northwest coast of Western Australia. A backfill field is a supply of natural gas that is required to maintain the throughput to an operating facility.
The intent of this backfill development is to maintain gas supply to the existing gas plants on Barrow Island to sustain current production rates of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and domestic gas. Public comment on the proposal is open until 1 November.
For information on the territory projects open for consultation, follow the link below:
Federal Parliament Public Hearings
Wednesday (14 August):
Food and Beverage Manufacturing in Australia – House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources
Time: 8:40 – 9:10 am; Chamber: House; Location: Committee Room 2R2, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT.
Thursday (15 August):
Inquiry into the transition to electric vehicles – Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Time: 5 – 6 pm; Chamber: House; Location: Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT.
Friday (16 August):
Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Time: 9 am – 5 pm; Chamber: Senate; Location: Committee Room 2S1, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT.
Review of the Reserve Bank of Australia Annual Report 2023 – Standing Committee on Economics
Time: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm; Chamber: House; Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT.
Veterans’ Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill 2024 [Provisions] – Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee
Time: 9 am – 12:30 pm; Chamber: Senate; Location: Committee Room 2S3, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT.
Original Article published by James Day on PS News.
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