Phil Gaetjens is an Australian public servant and former Liberal Party staffer, who served as the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2019 to 2022.

Education

Gaetjens earned a Bachelor of Arts from

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

and Graduate Diploma in Accounting from the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

Career

Gaetjens began his career in government in 1977 as an Assistant Research Officer in the Bureau of Transport Economics. He moved to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1991 before becoming a Senior Adviser to

Infrastructure Australia Infrastructure Australia is an independent statutory body providing independent research and advice to all levels of government and industry on projects and reforms relating to investment in Australian infrastructure. It advocates for reforms on ...

1993. In 1994, he served as a Parliamentary Liaison Officer in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

. He joined the South Australian Department of Treasury and Finance as Assistant Under Treasurer for State Enterprises in 1995. From 1997 to 2007, Gaetjens served as Chief of Staff to then-Treasurer

Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...

. In 2008, Gaetjens became Chief Adviser in the Competition and Consumer Policy Division in the Treasury Department. Gaetjens later became Director of the

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy, economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Policy Support Unit before returning to Australia in 2010. From 2015 to 2018, Gaetjens served as Chief of Staff to

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

. From 1 August 2018 to 2 September 2019, he served as Secretary of the Department of the Treasury. Gaetjens's nomination was criticised as an example of the politicisation of traditionally-nonpartisan government offices. He became Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on 2 September 2019, succeeding

Martin Parkinson Martin Lee Parkinson (born 26 September 1958) is a senior Australian public servant. He was Secretary of the Department of the Treasury between March 2011 and December 2014. On 3 December 2015 it was announced that he would return to the publi ...

. He was succeeded as Secretary by Professor

Glyn Davis Glyn Conrad Davis AC (born 25 July 1959) is an Australian academic who is the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, appointed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on 30 May 2022, and commenced on 6 June 2022. Davis was pre ...

after the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth conse ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaetjens, Phil Secretaries of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Flinders University alumni University of Canberra alumni Secretaries of Australian Government departments Living people Year of birth missing (living people)