Andrew Stuart Podger, (born 6 November 1948) is a retired Australian senior public servant. He is currently Professor of Public Policy at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Early life

Podger was born 6 November 1948.

Public service career

Podger began his

Commonwealth Public Service 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 Go ...

career in 1968 as a Cadet at the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

. After his time as a statistician he moved to the Social Welfare Commission in 1974 and then to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1975. He was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in the

Department of Social Security The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...

in 1978, where he stayed until 1982. In 1982 he joined the Department of Finance. In 1990 Podger went on to hold the position of Deputy Secretary in charge of Acquisition and Logistics in the Department of Defence, where he stayed until 1993. He was appointed Secretary of the

Department of the Arts and Administrative Services The Department of the Arts and Administrative Services was an Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional mo ...

in 1993, shortly thereafter renamed the Department of Administrative Services He was appointed Secretary of the

Department of Housing and Regional Development The Department of Housing and Regional Development was an Australian government department that existed between March 1994 and March 1996. History The department was created by the Keating government on 25 March 1994, divi ...

in April 1994. He then became Secretary of the

Department of Health and Family Services The Department of Health and Family Services was an Australian government department that existed between March 1996 and October 1998. The Department was created after the 1996 federal election in which a new Government was elected, ...

in 1996 (later Health and Aged Care). He then was appointed the Public Service Commissioner in 2002, a role he continued until 2004 when he agreed to head a Task Force in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to examine how to improve the delivery of health services.

Awards

Podger was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO) in 2004.

Notes

References and further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Podger, Andrew Stuart 1948 births Living people Australian public servants University of Sydney alumni Officers of the Order of Australia Secretaries of the Australian Government Health Department