Kathleen Joan Taperell AM , also known as Kathleen Tucker (born 15 February 1939), is an Australian public servant and feminist.
She was born in Sydney and attended Eastwood Public School and Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta. In 1959 she received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, subsequently receiving a Diploma of Education from the University of New England in 1969. She married John Tucker and used his name for some time before returning to her maiden name. She was a teacher from 1967 to 1972 and then became electorate secretary to federal MP John Kerin; she also ran as the Labor candidate for Nepean at the 1973 state election. She worked as a public servant from 1974 with the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration, the Public Service Board and, from 1977, the Office of Women's Affairs. In 1978 she was appointed Director of the office, a position she held until 1983; during this period she was also convenor of the Women's Film Fund Advisory Panel and the Australian delegation to the World Conference of the UN Decade for Women in 1980. [1]
In 1984, Taperell moved to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and in 1986 she worked for the Special Minister of State. From 1986 to 1990 she was assistant secretary of the Prime Minister's Department. She became a senior adviser to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in 1990. [1] In 1990 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for public service. [2]
Tanya Joan Plibersek is an Australian politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Labor Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2019. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sydney since 1998. A member of the Labor Party, Plibersek served as a Cabinet Minister in the Rudd, Gillard and Albanese governments. She is currently the Minister for the Environment and Water in the Albanese ministry since 2022, having previously served as the Shadow Minister for Education and Shadow Minister for Women between 2019 and 2022.
Sir David Iser Smith was an Australian public servant. He was the Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia between 1973 and 1990, in which capacity he served Sir Paul Hasluck, Sir John Kerr, Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Ninian Stephen and Bill Hayden.
A permanent secretary is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil service chief executives of government departments or ministries, who generally hold their position for a number of years at a ministry as distinct from the changing political secretaries of state to whom they report and provide advice. The role originated in the civil service of the United Kingdom and has been adopted in several Commonwealth countries as well as other countries influenced by the Westminster system.
Susan Maree Ryan was an Australian politician and public servant. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and held ministerial office in the Hawke government as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women (1983–1988), Minister for Education and Youth Affairs (1983–1984), Minister for Education (1984–1987) and Special Minister of State (1987–1988). She was the first woman from the ALP to serve in cabinet and was notably involved in the creation of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Affirmative Action Act 1986. Ryan served as a senator for the Australian Capital Territory from 1975 to 1987. After leaving politics she served as the Age Discrimination Commissioner from 2011 to 2016, within the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Government in Australia is elected by universal suffrage and Australian women participate in all levels of the government of the nation. In 1902, the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia became the first nation on earth to enact equal suffrage, enabling women to both vote and stand for election alongside men Women have been represented in Australian state parliaments since 1921, and in the Federal Parliament since 1943. The first female leader of an Australian State or Territory was elected in 1989, and the first female Prime Minister took office in 2010. In 2019 for the first time, a majority of members of the Australian Senate were women. At the time of its foundation in 1901, and again from 1952 to 2022, Australia has had a female monarch as ceremonial Head of State, while the first female Governor of an Australian State was appointed in 1991, and the first female Governor-General of Australia took office in 2008.
John Laurence Menadue is an Australian businessman and public commentator, and formerly a senior public servant and diplomat. He served as Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1975 to 1976, working under the Whitlam and Fraser governments. He was later appointed by Malcolm Fraser as Australian Ambassador to Japan, in which position he served from 1977 to 1980, after which Menadue returned to Australia and was appointed the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs from 1980 to 1983. Later in 1983, he became the Secretary of the Department of the Special Minister of State and the Secretary of the Department of Trade.
Peter Joseph Noozhumurry Varghese is an Australian retired diplomat and public servant. He was the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 3 December 2012 to 22 July 2016. He announced in November 2015 that he would leave the position in July 2016 to become the chancellor of the University of Queensland.
The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the Government of Australia. The Australian Public Service was established at the Federation of Australia in 1901 as the Commonwealth Public Service and modelled on the Westminster system and United Kingdom's Civil Service. The establishment and operation of the Australian Public Service is governed by the Public Service Act 1999 of the Parliament of Australia as an "apolitical public service that is efficient and effective in serving the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public". The conduct of Australian public servants is also governed by a Code of Conduct and guided by the APS Values set by the Australian Public Service Commission.
Peter Roger Shergold is an Australian academic, company director, and former public servant. Shergold was the Chancellor of Western Sydney University from 2011 through 2022.
Malcolm John Hazell, is a retired Australian public servant. He was the Official Secretary to two Governors-General of Australia, Peter Hollingworth (2003) and Major General Michael Jeffery (2003–2008).
The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was succeeded by another Labor administration, the Keating government, led by Paul Keating after an internal party leadership challenge in 1991. Keating was Treasurer through much of Hawke's term as prime minister and the period is sometimes termed the Hawke-Keating government.
The New South Wales Premier's Department, a department of the New South Wales Government, is responsible for leading the New South Wales public sector to deliver on the Government's commitments and priorities. The department provides administrative support that enables the cabinet to identify, design and implement a coordinated policy, project and reform agenda that boosts the efficiency, productivity and effectiveness across the State. The department consults and work closely with other New South Wales government departments, the Commonwealth Government, local government, business and the community to ensure responses to community needs are effective.
Dame Ursula Brennan is a retired British civil servant and a former Permanent Secretary at the United Kingdom's Ministry of Justice where she was also the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.
Frances Jennifer Adamson is an Australian public servant and diplomat who is the 36th Governor of South Australia, in office since 7 October 2021. She previously served as Australian Ambassador to China from 2011 to 2015 and as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2016 to 2021.
Sir Cyrus Lenox Simson Hewitt was an Australian public servant. His career in the Commonwealth Public Service spanned from 1939 to 1980, and included periods as a senior adviser and departmental secretary. His most prominent position was as secretary of the Prime Minister's Department during the Gorton government (1968–1971). He worked closely with Prime Minister John Gorton, although his initial appointment in place of John Bunting was seen as unconventional. Hewitt was also influential as secretary of the Department of Minerals and Energy during the Whitlam government (1972–1975), working under minister Rex Connor. He later served as chairman of Qantas (1975–1980).
Sir Peter James Lawler was an Australian senior public servant and diplomat. He served in senior roles under Prime Ministers Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon, Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke, and ended his career as Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See.
Helen Rodda Williams is a retired Australian senior public servant. She was the first woman in the Australian Public Service to be appointed as a Secretary of an Australian government department.
Christopher Conybeare is a retired Australian senior public servant.
Heather Joy Smith is an Australian public servant. She took up the position of Secretary of the Australian Government Department of Communications and the Arts in January 2016 and later headed the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.
Stephanie Foster, is an Australian senior public servant. She assumed the role of Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs in November 2023, replacing long-serving secretary Mike Pezullo after his dismissal for breaching the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct. Some commentators described her appointment as one focused on 'cleaning up' after her predecessor's maladministration.