The Water Cooler: Comings and goings in the public sector

A breakdown of the latest appointments in the Australian Public Service and across the public services of the states and territories.

APS Senior Executive Service

Band 1

At the Australian Taxation Office, Paul Beohm is the new Assistant Commissioner for Law and Policy Design, Sarah Welch and Emily Webster are new Assistant Commissioners for the Tax Council Network, and David Mendoza is the new Assistant Commissioner for Risk and Strategy Individuals.

Katina Kikitis has been appointed as the new Deputy CEO of the Australian Office of Financial Management.

Adam Lambert has been appointed as a new branch head of Cancer Australia.

Farryn Brousek has been appointed as the new Chief Information and Digital Officer at the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.

Niran Gunawardena has been appointed as Assistant Secretary for Employment Systems Strategy, and Rachel Addy as Assistant Secretary for Access and Participation, at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Band 2

Belinda McNamara has been appointed as Head of Stewardship and Security at the Australian Submarine Agency.

Carlyn Waters has been appointed as Deputy CEO of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

Band 3

James Kelly has been promoted to Deputy Secretary at the Department of Treasury.

Other government appointments

Susan Ferrier and Douglas Bain have been appointed to the Airservices Australia Board, for four years and three years respectively.

Ms Ferrier has more than 30 years of experience working with boards across major Australian and international banking corporations, consulting, and legal firms. A board member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Financial Executives Institute, she serves on the People and Culture Committee at the University of Sydney and on the board of Jawun, a non-profit that supports economic and social development in Indigenous communities.

Mr Bain is a chartered accountant who has more than 30 years’ experience in the construction, infrastructure, property, and resources sectors. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and serves on several boards, including Odyssey House New South Wales.

Four Deputy Presidents of the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) have been reappointed for two-year terms – Justice Lisa Hespe, Justice Geoffrey Kennett, Justice Melissa Perry, and Justice Thomas Thawley.

Andrew Buckland has been appointed as Commonwealth King’s Counsel.

Mr Buckland is Chief General Counsel at the Australian Government Solicitor. He has appeared for the Commonwealth in more than 100 constitutional cases before the High Court and other superior courts, and has acted as Solicitor-General.

Chum Darvall and Jules Scarlett have been appointed as non-executive directors of the NBN Co Limited Board for three years, and Pam Bains has been reappointed as a non-executive director of the NBN Co Limited Board for two more years.

Mr Darvall has chair and non-executive director experience across ASX-listed and private companies, government entities and not-for-profit organisations in financial markets, banking and infrastructure, including at Deutsche Bank and Westpac.

Ms Scarlett has a background in the telecommunications sector, including 24 years at Telstra, where she was most recently the chief sustainability officer. She is currently the chair and Commissioner of Tasmania Legal Aid, and has also served for 10 years on the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Board.

Adam Suckling has been appointed as deputy chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for a five-year term.

Mr Suckling has been an authority member since July 2023 and has experience in senior leadership and commercial, policy, regulatory and corporate affairs. He is a part-time Associate Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and was previously the CEO of the Copyright Agency.

Deborah Mailman has been reappointed to the Screen Australia Board for a three-year term.

Ms Mailman has served on the board since 2019. She is an award-winning actor with film credits including Radiance, Rabbit Proof Fence and The Sapphires, and television roles in Total Control, Mystery Road, Redfern Now, Mabo, The Secret Life of Us, and Little J & Big Cuz.

Ian Booth has been reappointed to the Australian Children’s Television Board for a three-year term.

Mr Booth is currently CEO of the Black Swan State Theatre Company and he has previously been CEO of Screenwest and a lawyer with Mills Oakley + Croftbridge. He led the Screenwest team that financed hundreds of film and television projects and is currently a director of Indian Pacific Pictures Pty Ltd and Home Fire Creative Industries Pty Ltd.

Andrea Laing and Jane Hamilton have been appointed as members of the National Library of Australia for three-year terms.

Ms Laing has worked in the Australian Taxation Office, chartered accounting and the energy industry, and is a part-time member of the Board of Taxation.

She spent more than 20 years at Shell in indirect tax, employment tax and tax policy roles, was head of tax for Shell Australia Energy Transition and Climate Change, and was a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development task team that developed International VAT Guidelines published in 2014.

Ms Hamilton has more than 30 years of experience in the property, education and government sectors. She has served as chair of the University of Essex Council, chair of the Committee of University Chairs in the UK, chair of NHS Property Services Ltd, a non-executive director of the Government Property Agency and a previous member of the Board of Trustees at the Institute of Cancer Research.

States and Territories

NSW Premier Chris Minns has announced a minor Cabinet reshuffle.

Acting Minister for Transport John Graham will take on the role permanently and has retained his portfolios as Special Minister of State, the Minister for the Arts, and the Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy.

Jenny Aitchison is the new Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport. Steve Kamper is the new Minister for Jobs and Tourism and has retained his Minister for Lands and Property, Minister for Multiculturalism, and Minister for Sport responsibilities.

Janelle Saffin has been promoted to Cabinet and is the new Minister for Recovery, Minister for Small Business, and Minister for the North Coast. Emily Suvaal has been appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Small Business.

Tasmanian Minister for Transport Eric Abetz has announced that Chris Carbone has been appointed as the new CEO of TT-Line, effective 12 May.

Catherine Murdoch has been appointed as the new CEO of Tasmania’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for a five-year term, effective 7 April.

Ms Murdoch currently serves as general manager agriculture and water at the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania. She has experience as a certified Lead Environmental Auditor and Environmental Practitioner, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and was a recipient of the 2020 Telstra Tasmanian Business Women’s Award.

Jennie Zeiher, Pauly Vandenbergh and Kirsty Balnaves have been added to the board of Brand South Australia.

Western Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet Director General Emily Roper will finish in the role on 21 March. She was to have finished her contract in December 2026 but is leaving early, by mutual agreement, to enable long-term stability in the leadership of the agency for the duration of the government’s new term.