Norman "Norm" Oakes AO (24 February 1926 – 5 September 2015) was a former

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

public servant.

Early life

Norman "Norm" Oakes was born on 24 February 1926 in

Wallsend, New South Wales Wallsend is a western suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia from Newcastle's central business district. It is part of the City of Newcastle local government area. Origins The Awabakal and Worimi peoples are acknowledged by City of N ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the son of John Oakes and Florence Bobb. He attended

Newcastle Boys' High School , motto_translation = With Oars and Sailsi.e. with all one's might , streetaddress = Turton Road, Waratah , city = Newcastle , state = New South Wales , postcode = 2298 , country ...

and thereafter studied economics at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. Joining the NSW Public Service on 21 July 1941. During the Second World War Oakes enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

, serving from 1944 to 1946.

Public service career

After the war Oakes rose to be Registrar-General of NSW Births Deaths and marriages and a member of the Public Service board. Eventually joining the NSW Treasury in 1960, he rose to become the head in 1977 as Under Secretary and Comptroller of Accounts, the last to serve under that title. In the 1986 Australia Day honours list Oakes 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 1987 the Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration named him as one of their National Fellows.

Later life

After his retirement in 1986 Oakes served as a Commissioner of the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

from its dismissal by the Unsworth Government on 6 April 1987 to 31 December 1988. In later years he served the NSW Branch of the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

, including as Honorary Treasurer, for which he 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 ...

in January 2001. In retirement, Oakes was an active member of the

Yowie Bay Yowie Bay is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Yowie Bay is located 24 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. Yowie Bay takes its na ...

Community and helped run a local Neighbourhood Watch program there for many years. He was also active in the local RSL ( Miranda sub-branch). On 5 September 2015, Oakes died at his residence in Yowie Bay aged 90, and was buried at Woronora Cemetery.

References

1926 births 2015 deaths People educated at Newcastle Boys' High School Royal Australian Air Force officers Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II University of Sydney alumni Public servants of New South Wales Officers of the Order of Australia Burials at Woronora Memorial Park {{Australia-gov-bio-stub