Employment and Workplace Relations Department secretary Natalie James will finish in the role 18 months before her term is due to end. Photo: File.
Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth has sent the boss of her department packing, giving one day’s public notice that department secretary Natalie James will no longer be in the office.
She is the second department secretary to be seemingly fired in three months, sparking concerns over the Federal Government’s relationship with the Australian Public Service.
While her official departure date is 18 January 2026, Ms James is now on leave until then, which terminates her appointment 18 months before her five-year term was due to expire.
On Tuesday (16 December), Ms Rishworth issued a short statement.
“The Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Ms Natalie James, will conclude her term as Secretary on 18 January 2026,” the Minister said.
“I would like to thank Ms James for her service as Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
“I would like to particularly acknowledge her leadership of the department in delivering the government’s first-term workplace relations and skills and training reforms.
“I wish Ms James all the best with her future endeavours.”
The department’s deputy decretary Tania Rishniw will act as secretary until a replacement for Ms James is appointed.
Ms James was appointed to a five-year term on 11 July 2022.
While she introduced a number of progressive initiatives aimed at improving workplace inclusion and had successes in the skills and training reform push, her tenure was also plagued with serious departmental failures.
Commonwealth Ombudsman Iain Anderson has delivered two scathing reports into the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations’ (DEWR) management of its welfare compliance system.
He recently ordered DEWR to complete a full brief to the Federal Government on how its automatic welfare suspensions and cancellations are supported by either policy or legislative authority.
“We could not be assured that DEWR maintains effective oversight of decisions made by providers, including through monitoring and responding to inconsistent or inappropriate decision-making by providers,” the Ombudsman’s report said.
“When we considered this against the unlawful cancellations, it calls into question the fairness and reasonableness of decision-making that resulted in jobseekers losing vital financial support.”
Almost 1000 welfare recipients had their payments unlawfully cancelled through the Targeted Compliance Framework, raising the spectre of another Robodebt (Services Australia’s illegal and aggressive automated debt collection scheme which was related to suicides and resulted in a Royal Commission).
DEWR has also been under fire over underpayments to 99 of its own employees between July 2022 and August 2023.
While the total underpayments with indexing amounted to $62,926.52, the department’s legal and consultancy expenses related to the shortfalls landed it a bill of more than $220,000.
Ms James had a number of difficult consecutive appearances in Senate Estimates over both issues.
Her departure makes it the second department secretary to leave their post early recently, in what is starting to appear like a clean-out by the Labor government – or at least a growing instance of Ministers clashing with their department secretaries and then pulling rank.
Adam Fennessy left the top job at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in September, two years before his five-year term was due to end.
It was subsequently revealed during a Senate Estimates hearing in October, that Mr Fennessy was “terminated” under section 59 of the Public Service Act and would receive an almost $900,000 golden handshake.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
