Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has marked her 2020 Birthday by bestowing official honours on a range of dedicated and committed public service professionals serving the Australian community over and above the requirements of their positions in the public sector.
Her Majesty’s awards, presented under the Order of Australia, were released in Canberra by the Governor-General, General David Hurley earlier this week.
The ACT Public Service employees honoured by the Queen this year, including those receiving the Public Service Medal (PSM), were:
OFFICER OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (AO)
Bruce James CHAPMAN AO
Australian National University
For distinguished service to higher education, particularly in the field of economics and public policy, and to professional societies.
Professor Chapman has held the ANU’s Sir Roland Wilson Chair in Economics since 2017.
MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (AM)
Scott Anthony SADDLER AM
National Arboretum Canberra
For significant service to public administration, and as a supporter and mentor of Indigenous youth.
Mr Saddler was manager and Executive Manager of the Arboretum from 2016 and Senior Director since 2019.
MEDAL OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (OAM)
Gina May PINKAS OAM
Retired ACTPS member
For service to the community of the Australian Capital Territory.
Ms Pinkas was dedicated member of the ACT Public Service for many years and a Ministerial Advisor to the Minister for Planning for six years.
PUBLIC SERVICE MEDAL (PSM)
Coralie Anne McALISTER PSM
Education
For outstanding public service to education in the Australian Capital Territory.
Ms McAlister is an outstanding, inspirational and collaborative leader who leads by example through actively engaging with peers, fellow educational professionals, stakeholders and the broader community.
Through each of her roles within the ACT Public Service (ACTPS) she has led system-wide reforms that are informed by deep collaboration with education leaders and stakeholders and overlaid with the pragmatic realities of a former practitioner.
Her advocacy of several key initiatives was integral to reshaping the Education Directorate’s industrial framework, including service delivery to schools through the Directorate’s People and Performance branch, delivery of a funding model that responds to the needs of students and enables schools to move to a holistic paradigm of service to the Canberra community, and leadership of the design and implementation of the Directorate’s cultural integrity framework that is changing and improving the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Canberra’s public schools.
She has led the synthesising of almost 5,000 stakeholder inputs to the ACT Government’s Future of Education Strategy and worked with her team and the Government to produce a clear articulation of the Government’s vision for Education over the next 10 years.
This strategy outlines the most significant reform to education in the ACT since the establishment of the ACT Colleges system some 40 years ago.
Ms McAlister has been able to develop policies, processes and practices to support the development and improvement of the education workforce and her focus is on developing others, creating partnerships, and anticipating needs to improve education outcomes for the ACT.
