The Capital Water Cooler: Comings and goings in the public sector

A breakdown of the latest appointments in the Australian Public Service.

APS Senior Executive Service

Band 1

Anshu De Silva Wijeyeratne and Felicity Rowe have been appointed as Assistant Secretaries in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Band 2

Astrid Heward has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of the Bureau of Meteorology.

Other federal appointments

Dr Charlotte Keating and Dr Jo Robinson have been appointed as co-chairs of the Federal Government’s new Anti-Bullying Rapid Review, which has been implemented to examine current school procedures and best-practice methods to address bullying.

Christina Grant has been appointed as the new CEO of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA).

The IPEA is an independent statutory authority that works to ensure the ethical, prudent and cost-effective use of public resources. It has advisory, reporting and assurance responsibilities for the work expenses of parliamentarians and the travel resources of their staff.

Professor Sue Gordon has been appointed as the new chair of the National Aged Care Advisory Council.

Also joining the council are Professor Tanya Buchanan, who is CEO of Dementia Australia; Associate Professor Mark Yates, a geriatrician at Ballarat Health Services; Charles Moore, the CEO of BaptistCare; and Peter Doukas OAM, chair of the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA).

Peter Rossdeutscher AM has been appointed as the new chair of Industry Innovation and Science Australia (IISA). He is the current chair of Quantum Australia, co-chair of First Nations X, and previously led the Quantum Girls STEM program at the University of Western Australia.

Nataliya Dikovskaya has been appointed to the Australian National Maritime Museum Council for a three-year term. She is currently a senior adviser at Minchin Moore Private Wealth, and the director of advisory support firm NASHAUS Consulting.

Ms Dikovskaya previously was the chair of the Adelaide Park Lands Art Prize 2023 and is a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Sub-Committee of the State Theatre Company of South Australia. Since 2024 she has been a member of the Contemporary Collectors Committee of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Lenda Oshalem has been appointed as deputy chair of the Board of Old Parliament House, while former Labor member Warren Snowdon has been appointed as a board member.

Ms Oshalem has been a member of the board since 2021. She is the executive director of advocacy and engagement at the Minderoo Foundation, and the chair of Minderoo Pictures. She has previously held roles including a board member of Auspire, management committee member at the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre, and national campaigns director and partner at SEC Newgate.

Mr Snowdon is a former member of the House of Representatives, having been elected as Member for the Northern Territory from 1987-1996 and from 1998-2001, and as Member for Lingiari from 2001-2022. He also sits on the board of Soldier On Australia, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Indigenous Eye Health Unit at the University of Melbourne.

Lucinda Brogden AM has been appointed as deputy chair of the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) of Australia Board.

Also joining the NFSA board are Joseph Thorp, Caroline Lilley and Jaclyn Lee-Joe, each for a term of three years.

Diplomatic appointments

Susannah Hodson is Australia’s next High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, succeeding Phoebe Smith.

Peter Roberts OAM is Australia’s next High Commissioner to the Republic of Fiji, replacing Ewen McDonald.

Keith Pitt has been named as Australia’s next Ambassador to the Holy See, to succeed Chiara Porro.

Mr Pitt was a Liberal member of the Federal Parliament from 2013 until 2025, serving as a minister and assistant minister in portfolios including trade, tourism and investment, resources, and water.

Daniel Sloper PSM has been appointed as Australia’s next High Commissioner to New Zealand, replacing Harinder Sidhu AM.

Toby Sharpe has been named as Australia’s next Ambassador to the Republic of Palau, to succeed Richelle Turner.

Ewen McDonald will be Australia’s next High Commissioner to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, taking over from John Feakes.

Clare Walsh will be Australia’s next Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, succeeding Amanda Gorely.

Gemma Huggins is Australia’s next Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism, replacing Richard Feakes.

The Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism leads Australia’s international engagement on counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism, and sits on the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee.

Original Article published by Andrew McLaughlin on PS News.