Francis Harry Rowe (20 October 189524 May 1958) was a senior Australian public servant, best known for his time as

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of the Department of Social Services.

Life and career

Frank Rowe was born in

Bright, Victoria Bright (pronunciation: ) is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia, 319 metres above sea level at the southeastern end of the Ovens Valley. At the , Bright had a population of 2,406. It is in the Alpine Shire local government area. Its pos ...

on 20 October 1895. In March 1917, Rowe enlisted in the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

and was assigned to a position in the Army Medical Corps. He was discharged in September that year. In 1918 he joined the

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 ...

in the

Repatriation Department The Repatriation Department was an Australian government department that provided support for disabled military veterans and widows of military personnel, as well as their dependents. It existed between September 1917 and June 1974. ...

, as a clerk. Between April 1941 and his death in May 1958, Rowe was head of the Department of Social Services. He took over from

Jim Brigden James Bristock Brigden (20 July 188712 October 1950) was a senior Australian public servant, heading Australian Government Departments during World War II. Life and career Brigden was born in Maldon, Victoria on 20 July 1887. He attended schoo ...

who had held the position only nominally since the idea of national insurance had been considered two years before, but the Department had never functioned. For this reason, Rowe's first act as Director-General was to engage staff. In 1945, Rowe traveled to Canada, representing Australia, to advise the Canadian Ministry of National Health and Welfare on Australia's social services. While in the country, Rowe explored the possibility of a reciprocity of social services, like the arrangement in place between Australia and New Zealand. Rowe died in a Melbourne hospital on 24 May 1958 after a short illness.

Awards and honours

In June 1953 Rowe was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his service as Director-General of the Social Services department. In November 1958 Howard A. Rusk from the World Rehabilitation Fund announced the Fund had established the Frank Rowe Memorial Fellowship to honour Rowe as one of the pioneer leaders of rehabilitation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Frank 1895 births 1958 deaths People from Bright, Victoria Australian public servants Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire