Helen Rodda Williams (born 21 March 1945) is a retired Australian senior public servant. She was the first woman in the

Australian 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 G ...

to be appointed as a Secretary of an Australian government

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Early life

Helen Williams was born in Adelaide, South Australia on 21 March 1945, the daughter of academics Sir Bruce Williams and Roma Williams.

Career

Early in her public service career, Williams joined the second division in the

Department of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

in 1979, her employment was controversial at the time due to her being a woman. When she was promoted to Deputy Secretary in the Department of Education and Youth Affairs in 1983, she became the first woman to hold a deputy secretary position in the Australian Government sphere. She was Acting Secretary of the Department of Education and Youth Affairs for a short time in 1984, and was later promoted to Secretary of the Department of Education in 1985, serving in the role until 1987 Her appointment as Secretary of the education department was the first time a woman had been appointed to head an Australian Government department of state. Williams told ''The Canberra Times'' in 2006 that in 1987 she was criticised by some women's groups and the senior public service bureaucracy when she took six months maternity leave after having her baby. Her daughter, Anna von Reibnitz, had been born in December 1986. Williams returned to work from maternity leave in 1987 on the day that a reorganisation of the public service was complete, with 28 departments cut down to just 18. Williams was not one of the previous secretaries who was given a department and was instead appointed Associate Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. While Associate Secretary, she headed the arm of the department responsible for Commonwealth-state relations during Prime Minister Bob Hawke's push for "New Federalism", which saw the break-ups of functions between different layers of government under review. In 1993, Williams was returned to a Secretary role, this time as head of the Department of Tourism.

1996 to 2009

*Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs 1996–1998 *Public Service Commissioner 1998–2002 *Secretary of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts 2001–2007 *Secretary of the

Department of Human Services A Department of Human Services (DHS) or Ministry of Human Services (MHS) is a national or subnational umbrella agency which is responsible for providing public assistance programs to the population they serve. Various aspects or alternate names i ...

2007–2009 Williams retired from the

in 2009. The APS celebrated the 30th anniversary of her appointment in November 2015.

Awards

Williams 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 ...

in June 1993 for service to public administration, particularly in the areas of education and social welfare. In 2001, Williams was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

"for service as Secretary, Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts". On Australia Day 2019, Williams was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia "for eminent service to public administration through senior advisory roles, and to policy reform and innovative program delivery.".

Private life

In 1979, Williams married Frederick, Baron von Reibnitz, a senior officer with 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 ...

. He is the son of Baron Günther von Reibnitz and brother of Princess Michael of Kent.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Helen 1945 births Living people Australian public servants Companions of the Order of Australia National Library of Australia Council members Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Secretaries of the Australian Government Education Department Secretaries of the Australian Government Immigration Department