Michael Pratt

Michael Pratt AM is the 27th Secretary of NSW Treasury, responsible for strategic management of the entirety of the state’s finances, budget, assets, liabilities and financial risk management framework and transformation. Mike joined the public service as NSW Customer Service Commissioner following a long career in banking, including include CEO of NAB Australia, and group executive of Westpac Business & Consumer Banking, CEO of Bank of New Zealand and CEO of Bank of Melbourne. He was also Deputy Chancellor of Western Sydney University.

Brendan Lyon exposes the rotten world of high-stakes consulting

By Bernard Keane

Editors' Picks

Do consultants working for governments do what they're told, have conflicts of interest and get sacrificed if they tell the truth? Yes.

NSW treasury secretary drawn into allegations state budget numbers fudged

By Melissa Coade

Culture

A former KMPG partner has told a parliamentary inquiry his work for Transport NSW compromised his ethics and he was ‘bullied’ by Michael Pratt.

NSW Treasury secretary to lead probe into Dominic Perrottet’s office over icare secondments

By Shannon Jenkins

New South Wales

The audit will occur after revelations that details relating to two people working in the office on secondment from state insurance agency icare 'were not…

NSW Treasury report shows how AI can fast-track regulatory reform process

By Shannon Jenkins

Communications & Technology

The average age of a piece of regulation in NSW is 22 years, and a piece of regulation is edited an average of 104 times.

The four Cs that turn good leadership into great leadership

By Michael Pratt

Career Advice

Customer-centric leadership is the key to managing through all kinds of challenges, writes the Secretary of NSW Treasury. Four self-development principles are the gateway to…

Former auditor-general steps up as first NSW productivity commissioner

By Stephen Easton

News

Peter Achterstraat has been appointed as the state's first productivity commissioner, charged with attracting domestic migrants and business investment from other parts of Australia.

NSW Treasury banking overhaul shakes Big Four to core

By Julian Bajkowski

Features

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is making major banks and credit card schemes compete against Fintechs and disruptors for state business.

Service NSW CEO snapped up by Suncorp

By Tom Burton

Community & Social

Dr Rachna Gandhi was one of many private sector executives to be brought into the NSW government's upper echelons in a major cultural change that…

Promoted

Strategy to capability? What it actually takes for agencies to execute (but they don’t tell you)

By Julian Bajkowski

Engagement

There’s a deluge of motherhood statements and relatively hollow mantras for getting agencies and services in government to ‘transform’. What really counts is having a…

NSW Treasury snatches state customer service czar Mike Pratt as its new secretary

By Julian Bajkowski

Career Matters

The Treasury head role with the Western world's most envied surplus will go to the state's Customer Service Commissioner, continuing the trend of taxing bank…

Smart systems, smart policy solutions: the cognitive approach

By Tom Burton

Career Advice

FEATURE: From false fire alarms to litter to life-and-death health diagnosis, data analytics combined with cognitive systems are delivering better policy outcomes. But leadership…

Tom Burton: Service NSW v auditor war misses the digital point

By Tom Burton

Features

OPINION: The dispute between the NSW Audit Office and Service NSW risks missing the much bigger benefits that come from large-scale digitalisation. Accountability…

Service NSW stands by benefits for customers, disputes Audit Office

By Mike Pratt & Rachna Gandhi

Community & Social

The benefits of Service NSW are coming, the state's customer service commissioner insists. Responding to an audit critical of overblown and unprovable benefit claims, he…

NSW ICT strategy: one public service career, one digital identity

By Stephen Easton

Career Advice

The final iteration of the NSW Government's ICT strategy includes a raft of concrete actions and reasonably specific timeframes — not just buzzwords and platitudes.

Cafes, business start-ups now the focus for Service NSW reform

By Tom Burton

News

NSW is re-engineering process to create a single portal for interacting with government. The customer service commissioner now wants to tackle business start-ups.