The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has announced an overhaul of senior bureaucrats, including the appointment of new secretaries in the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.

 

The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research will be headed by Dr Don Russell, following the departure of Mark Paterson, who recently took up the position of Director‑General of the Department of Trade and Investment in New South Wales.

 

Dr Russell is currently the Chairman of the NSW State Super SAS Trustee Corporation. He worked as a senior executive in the Department of the Treasury in the 1980’s, and was principal adviser to former Prime Minister and Treasurer Paul Keating. He was then appointed Australia’s Ambassador to the United States and more recently he has held a number of senior financial sector positions both in Australia and the US.

 

Dr Paul Grimes will be the new Secretary of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Dr Grimes has been acting in that position since September 2010. Prior to that appointment, he was the Associate Secretary of the Domestic Policy Group in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He has previously held senior roles in the Department of Finance and Deregulation, the Treasury and other jurisdictions. Dr Grimes was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2010 for outstanding public service in the development of the Australian Government's response to the global financial crisis. Dr Russell and Dr Grimes have both been appointed for a period of five years.

 

Following the early detection and successful treatment of cancer Ms Robyn Kruk, formerly Secretary of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, will take up the position of Chief Executive Officer designate of the new National Mental Health Commission.

 

The Commission was announced as part of the 2011-12 Budget and will be recommended to the Governor-General for establishment from 1 January 2012. Ms Kruk was previously Director-General of the NSW Department of Health.