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Department secretary

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or state government department in order to bring about policy and program initiatives that the government of day was elected to achieve. A departmental secretary works with other departments and agencies to ensure the delivery of services and programs within the nominated area of responsibility.
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A departmental secretary is in theory, a non-political, non-elected public servant head (and "responsible officer") of government departments, who generally holds their position for a number of years. A departmental secretary works closely with the elected
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for ensuring that the department performs all the functions assigned to it and spends money appropriately, as granted by the Parliament. Secretaries are frequently called for questioning by the
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This article is about the most senior public servant in a government department in Australia. For the equivalent role in other countries, see
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of the day about the suitability of potential candidates as departmental secretary. The report is prepared in conjunction with the
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The most senior Commonwealth public servant is the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, currently
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In the Australian government, secretaries are the responsible officers for departments. They are answerable to the
1062: 1717: 1541: 350:, secretaries were appointed for a five-year term; prior to this a term of three years was common. In 1999, the 1707: 218: 1435: 1141: 347: 328: 351: 883:"Patrick Weller "The Australian Public Service: Still Anonymous, Neutral and a Career Service?*"" 294: 1293: 1488: 979: 964: 320: 157: 262:
The secretary is also known as the chief executive of the department; the position is equivalent to the
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as the secretary of the Department of Defence after Barratt fell out of favour with his
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department. They are typically responsible for the day-to-day actions of a department.
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on the advice of the prime minister under Sections 58 and 59 respectively of the
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Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
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corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra.
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There are currently 16 secretaries within the Australian Government.
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Leading public servant of a government department in Australia
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Index

Departmental Secretary
Permanent secretary
Public servant
Australian Government
state and territory governments
Strategic advice
Public administration
Government minister
Director general
Chief executive officer

Peter Shergold
Secretary
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Prime Minister
John Howard
public servant
Australian Government
state government

verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
Learn how and when to remove this message
government minister
department
permanent secretary
United Kingdom
director general
chief executive officer

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