Home Affairs Department secretary Michael Pezzullo has been honoured for his service in the federal bureaucracy.

Mr Pezzullo received the Queen's Birthday honour this week for “distinguished service to public administration through leadership roles in the areas of national security, border control and immigration”.

He led the public service's implementation of border protection policies, oversaw major departmental restructures, and was central in overhauling Australia's national security apparatus.

Mr Pezzullo’s time in the Australian Public Service includes roles in the Defence Department, the Prime Minister's Department, and senior leadership positions at the former Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.

He was on the staff of foreign minister Gareth Evans in 1993, spent five years as deputy chief of staff to opposition leader Kim Beazley, and went on to run major restructures of public service departments, including the Immigration Department’s 2015 merger with the customs and border protection service.

He was also central to the creation of the Home Affairs Department in 2017 which further combined immigration, border protection and national security into one portfolio.

Home Affairs has led the National Coordination Mechanism in response to COVID-19, assisting the national cabinet with non-health federal government responses to the virus.

Mr Pezzullo recently told staff that the COVID-19 response by Home Affairs is proof of its merits.

“One question has been answered beyond all doubt: in the face of such a supreme difficulty, what might the best construct by which to organise the most effective civil defence, to bring together all capacities, capabilities and teams, to harness technology, to adapt the strengths which have been forged in response to natural hazards and terror, to bring to bear deep industry and infrastructure connections?” he said.

“The answer: the apparatus of Home Affairs.”