Public Service staff from all States and Territories have been recognised by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth again this year in her Australia Day Honours List this week, rewarding many for their selflessness and commitment to duty and service for the Australian community.
Her Majesty’s awards for members of the Australian Public Service (APS) were decided under the Order of Australia and announced on the Queen’s behalf by his Excellency the Governor-General, General David Hurley.
Congratulating the recipients of the honours, General Hurley described the recent years as ‘challenging’ and said the presentation of the Australia Day awards provided a reminder of the ‘richness of spirit, selflessness and good’ in the Australian community.
APS employees honoured by the Queen this year with the Public Service Medal (PSM), were:
COMPANION IN THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (AC)
Alan Simon FINKEL AO AC
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
For eminent service to science, to national energy innovation and research infrastructure capability, to climate change and COVID-19 response initiatives, and to science and engineering education.
Dr Finkel was Chief Scientist of Australia from 2016 to 2020.
Graeme MOAD AC
CSIRO
For eminent service to science, particularly polymer design and synthesis and radical polymerization, education through mentoring, and to professional scientific organisations.
Dr Moad has been a CSIRO Fellow since 2015 and Chief Research Scientist from 1999 to 2015.
John Malcolm WYLIE AM AC
Australian Sports Commission
For eminent service to the community through leadership in the sporting, cultural, philanthropic and business sectors. Sports Australia (formerly Australian Sports Commission) including Australian Institute of Sport
Mr Wylie was Chair of the Australian Sports Commission from 2012 to 2020
OFFICER IN THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (AO)
Susan Lesley BARRELL AO
CSIRO
For distinguished service to earth science through meteorology and research organisations.
Dr Barrell has been Chair of CSIRO’s Marine National Facility Steering Committee since 2019.
Andrew Alexander COLVIN APM OAM AO
Australian Federal Police
For distinguished service to law enforcement, to counter terrorism initiatives, and to bushfire recovery programs.
Mr Colvin was Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from 2014 to 2019.
David William GRUEN AO
Australian Bureau of Statistics
For distinguished service to public administration, to economic research, to business, and to education.
Dr Gruen has been Australian Statistician since 2019.
Rodney Graham SIMS AO
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
For distinguished service to public administration in economic policy and regulatory roles. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Mr Sims has been Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission since 2011.
MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (AM)
Graeme Edward BATLEY AM
CSIRO
For significant service to environmental toxicology and chemical science.
Dr Batley is Chief Research Scientist of CSIRO’s Environmental Contaminant Mitigation and Technologies research program.
Garry Allan WATTS AM
Family Court of Australia
For significant service to the law, and to the judiciary, particularly to the Family Court.
Justice Watts has been a judge of the Family Court of Australia since 2005.
PUBLIC SERVICE MEDAL (PSM)
James Victor BAXTER PSM
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
For outstanding public service as Australia’s chief negotiator for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Free Trade Agreement.
Mr Baxter is widely recognised as a key player in bringing Australia together with nine of its top 15 trading partners under a single trading framework.
As the leader of the whole of government team negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Free Trade Agreement, the new framework embeds improved trade rules and creates new opportunities for exporters and investors across the fastest growing region in the world.
As a tireless advocate of the benefits of trade integration and liberalisation, Mr Baxter demonstrated high level negotiating skills and outstanding leadership in an intense and highly demanding role with extended pressure. Mr Baxter led negotiations on critical issues which required complex and time constrained coordination, using evidence based solutions to navigate competing priorities towards innovative solutions. He played a critical role at crucial times during the negotiations, finding innovative ways to break through deadlocks and resolve problems.
Michelle Frances BAXTER PSM
Safe Work Australia.
For outstanding public service to the health and safety of Australian workplaces and the community, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Baxter has made a sustained contribution to Australian workplace health and safety through her leadership of Safe Work Australia, in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her contribution was essential to the Government’s efforts to promote the COVID-safe workplace message through the Australian community.
Ms Baxter led a coordinated national effort to rapidly develop comprehensive work health and safety guidance materials for employers, small businesses and workers, driving collaboration with jurisdictional representatives, representatives of peak business organisations, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Department of Health, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and the National COVID-19 Commission. This ensured that, as much as possible, there was a common policy framework and communication platform for business and the community, enabling businesses and workers to continue to operate in a safe and healthy manner.
She was instrumental in mobilising existing networks and outreach to provide niche and tailored advice to the myriad of workforce types and industries across the country. She led the focus on engaging with both existing and newly established bodies to find best-practice ways to deliver timely and accurate advice to Australian workplaces. More recently, she also led the coordination of work health and safety guidance in relation to the vaccines rollout plan.
Through her leadership of the organisation, Ms Baxter has elevated the profile of Safe Work Australia internationally, positioning it on the world stage as a trusted and respected leader in the field of workplace health and safety and workers’ compensation, including through the G20 Occupational Health and Safety Network of Experts and the World Congress on Health and Safety.
Shona Jane BLEWETT PSM
Geoscience Australia
For outstanding public service to education and teacher training in Earth Sciences, and for leadership in education innovations
Ms Blewett has made a sustained contribution to education at Geoscience Australia over almost 16 years, developing educational materials and coordinating visits for thousands of students each year. She is currently serving as the Education Team Manager.
Ms Blewett has been the driving force in significantly growing the scope and capability of the Education Centre, and under her leadership visitor numbers to the Geoscience Australia Education Centre have doubled.
Ms Blewett is an educator who has led the development of a suite of education materials for students on minerals and resource management, driven professional content for teachers in Earth Science and fostered science communication skills for government scientists.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Blewett further demonstrated her initiative by leading her team from a focus on school visits to implementing virtual engagement, developing 10 new educational videos and numerous virtual classroom experiences, all of which are now freely available to all Australians.
Ms Blewett has shown a deep commitment to fostering the next generation of Earth scientists and ensuring the Australian Government is very strongly represented in STEM education. She has been integral in promoting Geoscience Australia’s research and capabilities and is a role model in teaching and science communication for government scientists. She has been instrumental in the set up of a community of practice of Earth and Environmental Science teachers of the ACT region.
Ms Blewett is an ambassador for STEM, promoting geoscience as a rewarding career path for young people and as a great value to Australia.
Caragh Maria CASSONI PSM
Department of Health
For outstanding public service through leadership in the Australian Government’s response to COVID-19, particularly in residential aged care.
Ms Cassoni served as the Director of the Aged Care COVID-19 Liaison Section from March 2020 to December 2020.
She played a crucial role protecting older Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in relation to the Department’s response to the pandemic outbreaks in residential aged care.
She demonstrated remarkable integrity, resilience and leadership to ensure regular, consistent and compassionate communication was provided in regards to designing and coordinating the huge range of measures to both prepare the sector and directly respond to outbreaks as required.
Ms Cassoni dealt professionally, tirelessly and with immense patience to support the response to the pandemic. Ms Cassoni not only worked incredibly long hours herself, she demonstrated excellent leadership skills in enabling her small, dynamic and highly responsive team to deliver critical materials to effectively keep the nation informed on what was occurring during the most serious outbreaks of COVID-19 in aged care.
Kylie Maree CRANE PSM
National library of Australia
For outstanding public service through contributions to the Disability Taskforce, and to the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Crane made a strong contribution to the Government’s support to early childhood education and care services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, Ms Crane designed and led innovative consultation and engagement methods to deliver a comprehensive national review of the 2005 Disability Standards for Education.
The review ensured inclusivity and participation of interested individuals, groups and sectoral representatives during the imposed physical and travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Crane guided the implementation of the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package, an initiative that kept child care services open during the pandemic by supporting frontline health and other essential service workers. The package also ensured financial viability during lockdown periods when attendance was extremely low, supporting more than 90 per cent of centres to stay open during the unprecedented times.
She led the development of an alternate payment system to provide business continuity payments directly to services, as well as foster a system to assess the special needs of some services for extra support.
Ms Crane’s calm, determined, practical efficiency and innovative approaches to delivery, leadership and problem solving showed a strong dedication to serving the public.
Paul Jason CREECH PSM
Services Australia
For outstanding public service to community health, particularly through ensuring access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mrl Creech is currently serving as General Manager, Health Programmes Division at Services Australia.
He was central to Services Australia’s health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He led the implementation of over 700 new Medicare items and thousands of amendments to support the community through the pandemic, fundamentally changing how doctors consult and enabling patients to be serviced via telephone and videoconference.
Mr Creech worked closely with policy agencies to make changes to the services offered for health professionals, reducing their administrative burden, supporting their mobility during the pandemic and enhancing their ability to service the community while retaining appropriate checks and balances to safeguard quality.
He was instrumental in coordinating Services Australia’s role in the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout, bringing together stakeholders from service delivery to ICT to others across Government, and working closely with states and territories, to enable the reporting of crucial vaccine administration information to the Australian Immunisation Register.
Mr Creech’s leadership, partnership approach and commitment to on ground delivery has seen him play a pivotal role in linking policy design and reform with service delivery implementation, to ensure the best outcomes for Australians.
Tracy CREECH PSM
Department of Social Services
For outstanding public service in establishing survivor-focussed support services for the National Redress Scheme and for guiding instrumental improvements.
As Branch Manager of the National Redress Scheme at the Department of Social Services (DSS), Ms Creech led cross-agency work with DSS and the then Department of Human Services, to establish survivor-focussed support services, as well as the implementation of a highly complex legislative framework and operational model for the National Redress Scheme (the Scheme).
When implementation challenges presented in the early days of the Scheme, Ms Creech used drive and ingenuity in finding ways to improve processes, systems and methods.
The organisational redesign influenced by her consolidation work removed duplication, realised efficiency gains and increased quality. Improvements were made to training, guidance material, communication products, complaints handling, information management and reporting. The Scheme is an historic achievement for the Australian Government and community.
Ms Creech’s leadership and integrity has always been driven by the fundamentals recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse – those of survivors’ needs, recognising the harm done and forging a path to truth, justice and survivor support and healing.
She developed an acute awareness of survivors’ needs and optimal ways of engaging with survivors and advocacy groups, and she worked to drive cultural change to bridge the gap between survivor needs, government policy and processes.
Ms Creech provided significant and sustained service to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
Kim Ann CRIMMINS PSM
Australian Federal Police
For outstanding public service through support for victims of crime and Australians impacted by disaster.
Mrs Crimmins is currently serving as Team Member – Family Investigative Liaison Officer, Coordination Counter Terrorism and Special Investigations in the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
She sustained dedication, empathy and holistic care has guided hundreds of victims and their families through exceptional and deeply traumatic circumstances. In particular, the strong impact of Mrs Crimmins’ work has contributed to the trust and goodwill between families and the Australian Government in efforts to secure justice for MH17. Her judgement and considered advice enabled excellent inter-agency cooperation and further informed policy development of the family support package.
Her extraordinary skills in family liaison and victim identification were critical to the success of operations for the Christchurch Mosque attacks and the White Island eruptions in New Zealand, with her contribution being integral to maintaining inter-country working relationships.
Mrs Crimmins was fundamental in the development of the ACT Victim Liaison Officer program, ensuring support and relevant information was available to victims of crime to support them during the complex criminal justice and coronial process.
Her tireless work in refining, developing and mentoring the Family Investigative Liaison Officer Program has enabled the AFP to meet the increasing need to respond to kidnappings offshore, terrorist attacks and critical incidents where Australians are injured or killed offshore. In addition,
Mrs Crimmins volunteers with support groups AFP Legacy and the Confidant Network, who provide information and support to appointees when dealing with inappropriate or unethical behaviour in their work environment.
She’ consistently demonstrates professionalism, insight and exceptional ability to build goodwill and rapport. She has made a significant impact and outstanding contribution to informing policy development and in support roles.
Justine Nicole CURNOW PSM
Office for the Arts.
For outstanding public service in leading the assistance package to sustain and revive the arts and entertainment sectors through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Curnow is the former Assistant Secretary of the Arts COVID Response Taskforce at the Office for the Arts.
Her work contribution, work ethic and character led to her appointment as leader of the Arts COVID Response Taskforce. In that role she led a team that was able to secure additional funding for the arts and entertainment sectors.
The initiatives she developed were all the first of their kind in the arts portfolio and have been crucial in sustaining and reviving the arts and entertainment sector during 2020 and 2021.
Ms Curnow demonstrated strong and effective leadership and collaboration to bring this package to fruition through the Budget process, gaining strong support from central agencies and under extreme time and external pressures.
She also worked closely with the Minister’s Office to establish the Creative Economy Taskforce, comprising senior figures from the arts and entertainments sectors, including CEOs from major arts companies across the country, to provide strategic advice to the Minister on the government’s role in supporting the creative economy.
Ms Curnow has made a sustained contribution to policy development in a range of social policy roles.
Bronwyn Louise FIELD PSM
Department of Health.
For outstanding public service managing national collaboration to ensure hospital capacity and industry viability, and a leading role in the return of Australians from overseas.
Ms Field is currently serving as First Assistant Secretary at the Department of Health.
She established effective and collaborative working arrangements with state and territory colleagues to design and negotiate the National Partnership on COVID-19 Response. Her flexible and open approach supported the Partnership to be negotiated and agreed in one week. The robust design of the Partnership has since been used to facilitate other assistance as the COVID-19 response evolved.
Ms Field established the COVID-19 private hospital viability guarantee between the Commonwealth, states and private hospitals. This agreement was the first of its kind and ensured the resources of the private hospital sector were available to respond to the pandemic alongside the public hospital sector.
Ms Field led negotiations and developed a bilateral agreement to support the return of vulnerable Australians from overseas to undertake quarantine, resulting in the establishment of the Howard Springs facility in Darwin over a two week period.
Ms Field has made a critical contribution to Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic response, demonstrating her outstanding skills as an innovative and solutions focussed leader. Demonstrating her significant and strategic policy development skills,
She drove the development, negotiation and delivery of a number of innovative and landmark packages to ensure the health system’s endurance through the pandemic.
Travis William HASLAM PSM
Department of Health
For outstanding public service managing the National Medical Stockpile particularly in ensuring sufficient PPE for Australian health care workers.
Mr Haslam is currently serving in the Medical Benefits Division (MBS) Policy and Specialist Services Branch at the Department of Health.
He has demonstrated exceptional leadership, tireless work and dedication in overseeing the deployment of the National Medical Stockpile (NMS). His leadership was instrumental in the Taskforce securing essential stocks of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other medical equipment and supplies, including antibiotics and antivirals to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
Mr Haslam worked to overcome challenges presented by the unprecedented global demand for PPE and interruptions to commercial supply chains. As a result of his efforts, at no stage was there a national shortage of PPE for healthcare workers – a significant achievement compared to the global situation. His work to ensure the security of Australia’s supply of PPE was conducted quietly and with little fanfare, drawing on the expertise of his team and his effective management.
The ability of Australian healthcare workers, hospitals and residential aged care workers to obtain the medical resources needed, was a crucial factor in constraining the impact of the virus within Australia, saving many Australians from illness and death. Mr Haslam provided timely and strategic advice to the Executive and the Chief Medical Officer on the NMS and deployment of resources. He embedded processes and upskilled staff, with long lasting impacts.
These outcomes were achieved as a result of Mr Haslam’s dedication, responsiveness, resilience and collaboration in leading the Taskforce, and securing and despatching supply in very challenging circumstances.
Stephanie Elizabeth HODSON CSC PSM
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
For outstanding public service through the provision of mental health counselling services to the veteran community.
Since 2016, Dr Hodson has successfully expanded Open Arms – Veteran & Families Counselling to a service providing comprehensive high quality mental health support to all veterans, Australian Defence Force members and their families.
Dr Hodson championed changes to increase the accessibility of counselling services available to veterans across the whole of Australia.
After leading the planning and delivery of mental health support for athletes and participants at the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018, Dr Hodson established a peer support network of lived experience workers to complement existing counselling and group programs, leading to a comprehensive support service.
She has a transformative approach to mental health from strategic, research and implementation perspectives. She has also worked collaboratively with other community organisations, such as Headspace and Relationships Australia, to leverage the benefits of expertise and access from these services.
Under Dr Hodson’s effective leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increased pressure of the doubling of clientele, the organisation was able to quickly adapt to deliver online options for individual counselling, online group sessions and additional well-being tools to support veterans.
Vanessa Jane HOLBEN PSM
Department of Home Affairs.
For outstanding public service through leadership of the National Coordination Mechanism as part of the Australian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Holben is currently First Assistant Secretary, Emergency Management and Coordination, National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) Division at the Department of Home Affairs.
She rapidly established NCM work processes and deliverables, including governance structures and procedures. She simultaneously coordinated engagements across a range of sectors by quickly creating networks and relationships between the Commonwealth and states and territories, to identify issues across jurisdictions and multiple sectors. She cultivated a high performing team from diverse backgrounds and ensured the provision of essential goods and services for all Australians, particularly for vulnerable cohorts and remote communities, ensuring critical services and supply chains were not interrupted in the responses to the non-health impacts of COVID-19.
Ms Holben’s work broke down barriers with and between industry and government, resulting in continued engagement from stakeholders to seek the expertise of the NCM based on its success in supporting and resolving issues during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lessons learnt and experience gained from the NCM work has now been adapted to bolster and establish frameworks for issues in Emergency Management Australia.
Ms Holben demonstrated strategic leadership, significant networking capability and extraordinary personal resilience in establishing and leading the National Coordination Mechanism (NCM). Her outstanding leadership provided considered support for the Prime Minister and National Cabinet, and enhanced collaboration and information flow between levels of government for decision making to support a consistent, collaborative and cohesive national approach.
Nicole JARVIS PSM
Department of Health
For outstanding public service through contributions to the successful establishment and operation of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.
Ms Nicole Jarvis is currently serving as Queensland/Northern Territory State Manager within the Department of Health.
She has worked as Case Manager Lead within the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre (VACRC). She demonstrated strong and effective leadership and communication skills in all work undertaken, providing input and feedback to case managers, Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACF) providers, Infectious Disease Specialists and core Health Aged Care divisions in Canberra.
Ms Jarvis worked closely with the Commonwealth Department of Health on issues such as the National Medical Stockpile and grants to RACF that have experienced Covid-19 outbreaks, as well as up to 200 case managers who were predominantly remotely based and allocated to specific RACF.
She consistently displayed strong leadership during a critical and unprecedented time when residents’ lives were dependent on the efficient and effective use of the VACRC. Once the case management role and service had been developed to run more smoothly, Ms Jarvis led the repatriation of over 445 residents back to their residences.
She also developed a formal repatriation program for the 10 most affected RACFs and their 223 residents, establishing a steering committee to ensure repatriation was fully supported by all services, the acute Victorian health sector and Infection Prevention Control specialists.
Ms Jarvis showed dedication, responsiveness, resilience and collaboration in rapidly changing and dire circumstances and she made a material difference to saving lives in residential aged care in Victoria.
Megan LEES PSM
Department of Defence.
For outstanding public service leading Defence’s national response to COVID-19 and the provision of policy and communications advice to the Australian Defence Force community.
Ms Lees served as the Deputy Commander, COVID-19 Taskforce at the Department of Defence.
She has been instrumental in the pandemic response across Defence and other Federal, state and territory agencies and authorities, drawing on her established relationships across government and with industry.
As well as her exceptional judgement, Ms Lees delivered comprehensive policy solutions that preserved essential Defence capability and critical business functions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her comprehensive policy solutions preserved Defence capabilities and minimised disruption to Defence’s workforce while ensuring the Australian community was well supported by the Defence Force. Her appointment as a civilian to a command role was a first, and reflected her diverse and unique skills and perspective.
As Deputy Chair of the Australian Government Overseas Network Vaccine Rollout Steering Committee Group, Ms Lees also has been instrumental in developing the plan to vaccinate all Australian Government staff and Defence personnel and their dependents, in high risk locations across the world. She demonstrated outstanding and invaluable policy development and communication skills. She showed resilience, ongoing personal dedication and exceptional skill in managing complex policy advice.
Ms Lees consistently performed with the highest levels of distinction in this role, and in previous roles with Defence and as Chief of Staff to the Minister for Human Services, and with the Minister for Defence.
Alice Ruth LINACRE PSM
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
For outstanding public service in the provision and management of legal services and resources to support the Government’s response to critical events, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Linacre is currently Chief Counsel and First Assistant Secretary, Legal Division at the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.
Her leadership across her many roles, in particular with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, has been crucial to assisting the Commonwealth to navigate complexity that cuts across whole of government legal and policy matters.
In 2018, she was named the Association of Corporate Counsel Australian Government Lawyer of the Year.
Ms Linacre’s extensive technical legal expertise has been instrumental in determining Commonwealth guidance and policy on issues including Live Animal Export, various inquiries, litigation, waste and environmental protection, biosecurity issues and reform, and the Bushfire Royal Commission. She has also been essential to rapidly stewarding legislative changes through the parliamentary process during recent challenges such as bushfires, floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Linacre has consistently demonstrated excellence in the provision of legal services and the management of legal resources through her outstanding leadership and direction.
David Anthony LUCHETTI PSM
Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
For outstanding public service to science and industry policy in Australia, particularly in the Square Kilometre Array project.
Mr Luchetti is General Manager, Vaccine Manufacturing Taskforce at the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
His outstanding achievement has been in establishing Australia’s leadership role in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project and the hosting of thousands of the telescope’s antennas, creating jobs in data processing, manufacturing, data transfer, alternative energy production and many other fields.
Mr Luchetti led and drove the SKA project, navigating a complex and often challenging international environment.
He consistently demonstrated strong policy development and negotiating skills by developing and presenting the successful bid, leading the negotiation of the Indigenous Land Use Agreement with the Wajarri Yamaji people in Western Australia, driving Australia’s ratification of the SKA Observatory Convention in September 2020 and working with international partners to support the creation of the new SKA Observatory in February 2021.
Throughout his career, Mr Luchetti has maintained a commitment to long term, meaningful and positive impact, exemplifying outstanding public service.
Sonja MARSIC PSM
Australian Government Solicitor.
For outstanding public service to the Commonwealth through the provision of legal services, particularly in relation to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation.
Ms Marsic is currently serving as Senior Executive Lawyer at the Australian Government Solicitor.
She has made an outstanding contribution to the Commonwealth through the provision of legal services to Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), particularly in relation to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation.
Ms Marsic has led legal teams representing AUSTRAC in landmark civil penalty cases, reshaping the regulatory environment and enhancing compliance with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing (AML/CTF) legislation.
Her expertise and professionalism has resulted in AUSTRAC’s increased standing as a regulator and built strong awareness in the corporate sector of the need to comply with AML/CTF requirements.
Ivan Roger NEVILLE PSM
Department of Jobs and Small Business
For outstanding public service in improving labour market policies and responsiveness to labour market developments, particularly to address unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery .
Mr Neville has made sustained significant contributions to labour market and economic policies throughout his 40 year career.
For 15 years, Mr Neville led the Labour Market Research and Analysis Branch and played a key role in supporting the establishment of the National Skills Commission. He has been the Commonwealth’s foremost authority on labour market trends. His key work has provided strategic context, ensuring evidence-based development and delivery of employment policies and programs across all levels of government.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Neville provided the government with regular national and regional information on critical labour market shortages and areas of labour market weakness.
His major contribution of improving employment policies and making reliable labour market research easily available, increased the effectiveness of government programs to address unemployment and enhance the ability of Australians to find employment.
These improvements by Mr Neville further enabled assessment and tracking of the labour market and informed short-term responses and longer term planning.
Kathryn Louise (Kath) PATON PSM
Department of Social Services
For outstanding public service through developing the policy and processes that enabled critical income support payments to Australians impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.
Ms Paton served as the Branch Manager of the Department of Social Services COVID-19 Taskforce.
In that role she was responsible for developing policy payment options to support the Australian Government’s response to COVID-19, including Economic Support Payments and the Coronavirus Supplement.
Ms Paton diligently went above and beyond expectations to ensure that complex legislation was developed with consideration of service delivery arrangements under great time pressures. With a key focus of streamlining the application process, Ms Paton implemented policy settings to support Services Australia with the simplification of the claims process and the development of a straightforward online digital tool. This generated simplified processing and reduced the time it took for claims to be approved. Additionally, the online process reduced the need for face to face contact and mitigated COVID-19 risks for staff and customers.
Ms Paton’s contribution was instrumental in processing a substantial increase of new Australians seeking income support, including more than 1.2 million JobSeeker applications in a nine week period from late March. The two part Economic Support Payment benefited around 7 million people in the first round, 4.8 million in the second round and distributed around $9 billion of support to the Australians impacted by the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions.
Ms Paton’s work during the pandemic has highlighted her ability to develop complex policy and delivery strategies within extremely short timeframes, delivering significant outcomes for Australians in need.
John William SHEPHERD PSM
Australian Bureau of Statistics.
For outstanding public service through the development, design and implementation of the Single Touch Payroll program.
Mr Shepherd is General Manager, Industry Statistics Division at the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
At the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Mr Shepherd led the development of the Single Touch Payroll (STP) program from design through to implementation. In developing the program, Mr Shepherd built relationships across a large and diverse number of stakeholders including the community, the broader public service and the private sector to resolve complex issues, co-designing solutions with stakeholders using unique and innovative ways to enhance engagement.
The STP program positioned the Australian Public Service to deliver excellent service and innovation through the COVID-19 pandemic. The STP was the biggest change to payroll reporting for employers in recent history and one of the most transformational projects at the ATO.
With the onset of the pandemic, Mr Shepherd took the lead in establishing a multidisciplinary team from the ATO and the ABS to quickly repurpose collected data and convert it into a statistical series (Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages) which provided a source of near real-time information on more than 10 million jobs. This information supported Treasury and the Commonwealth to fine-tune programs including JobSeeker and JobKeeper, Tourism and Regional Support packages.
Andrew Edward SNASHALL PSM
Department of Defence.
For outstanding public service to the Defence Community, particularly in delivering improvements of military justice processes for Australian Defence Force Members.
Mr Snashall is currently Director, Military Redress and Review at the Department of Defence.
He has demonstrated outstanding service through his inspirational leadership during a challenging transition program within the Office of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF). He has achieved a more efficient process, improved productivity and delivered a better service in relation to the processing of Redress of Grievances for Australian Defence Force (ADF) members.
Mr Snashall’s implementation of Defence Regulation 2016 (the Regulation) is a major achievement in the improvement of military justice for the ADF over the past decade. His comprehensive understanding of the benefits and limitations of the previous regulations provided input to the development and implementation of the Regulation and prevented systemic issues under the previous regulations being carried over to the Regulation.
Mr Snashall has delivered respectful, fair, articulate and timely outcomes for ADF members. As a result of Mr Snashall’s work, the timeliness with which the IGADF is able to resolve grievances has improved substantially (up to an 80 per cent reduction in the time to resolve complaints). As a direct result, the number of complaints to the Commonwealth Ombudsman has significantly reduced.
Christopher Hayden TEAL PSM
Department of Home Affairs
For outstanding public service in developing and establishing globally recognised best practice guidelines to counter foreign interference in the Australian university sector .
Mr Teal is a long serving public servant, highly regarded for shaping and delivering outstanding, nuanced policy on sensitive, complex and urgent challenges.
He previously played a key role in the establishment of the Foreign Interference Threat Assessment Centre and the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce which discovers, tracks and disrupts foreign interference in Australia.
Mr Teal’s identification of a critical gap in countering foreign interference in universities and his subsequent development, establishment and leadership of the University Foreign Interference Taskforce (UFIT), led to the creation of the Guidelines to counter foreign interference in the university sector.
These guidelines ensure decision making is based on potential risks and support an environment of trust, helping Australian universities to continue to produce world-class research with academic freedom.
Mr Teal was instrumental in proactively bringing together university peak bodies, Vice-Chancellors and Australian Government agencies to consider active measures to counter foreign interference and provide the catalyst for the establishment of the UFIT.
Stephanie Alice WILLIAMS PSM
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
For outstanding public service in planning and implementing the Australian Government’s vaccine response in the Indo-Pacific region.
Dr Williams is currently serving as Ambassador for Regional Health Security at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
She is credited with fundamentally shaping the Australian Government’s response to the impacts of the pandemic in the Indo-Pacific region both in the initial emergency response phase from January to June 2020, and in the process of planning for the supply of vaccines and related delivery support to partner countries.
Dr Williams worked intensively to reorient existing programs of technical assistance to support partner governments’ public health responses and develop a range of new emergency health measures funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including the $500 million Vaccine Access Initiative for the Pacific and South-East Asia. She personally drove all of DFAT’s work to supply partner governments with appropriate personal protective equipment and medical supplies and led the preparation of comprehensive situation reporting.
Dr Williams worked tirelessly with leaders, ministers and senior health officials in the Pacific and South-East Asia. Her efforts directly supported Australia’s own health security during COVID-19.
