New Senior Executive Services promotions in the Australian government, including two acting deputy secretaries officially promoted to Band 3 following experience in the PMO and Turnbull camp. Also, the CEO of the Climate Change Authority moves to a new portfolio.

Deputy Secretary

Sarah Chidgey has been confirmed as Deputy Secretary, Integrity and International Group in the Attorney General’s Department. The group was newly created as part of an organisation restructure following the machinery of government changes that also created the Department of Home Affairs.

Chidgey has been a senior advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office and national security advisor to the Attorney General, as well as heading up the divisions responsible for cyber and infrastructure security, national security, and strategy and delivery in the AGD.

Richard Windeyer has been confirmed as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Communications and the Arts. Windeyer’s group encompasses infrastructure and consumer matters and been acting in the role for considerable time.

Windeyer also has notable experience in the ministerial office, serving as Malcolm Turnbull’s chief of staff when he was communications minister. He has also been in charge of the strategy and projects, and digital economy divisions of the communications portfolio.

Executive Director

Gayle Milnes, the current acting chief executive office of the Climate Change Authority has been promoted into Band 2 and will be moving across portfolios to the Department of Industry, Regional Development and Cities in October this year. After a few calls this week we couldn’t find how exactly which of the Band 2 vacancies she will be filling, or when other the executive directors will be identified, or if a larger restructure is on the cards. Perhaps we’ll know in October.

Milnes, whose background is economics, has previously worked in the Environment and Energy, Foreign Affairs and Trade departments and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Assistant Secretary

A new crop of executives have been promoted into Band 1:

Department of Communications and the Arts

• Benjamin Galdys

Department of Home Affairs

• Ben Biddington

Department of Human Services

• Stuart Brazendale
• Julia Bell
• Anthony Piazza
• Sally Martin
• Andrew Rodrigues

Department of Social Services

• Carolyn Paterson

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

• Rebecca Lannen

Independent Hospital Pricing Authority

• Joanne Fitzgerald
• Sarah Neville

See last week’s movers and shakers update here.