The Prime Minister's Office (PMO), also known as the Office of the Prime Minister, is the private office of the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

that provides political advice and executive support to the Prime Minister. The PMO is led by the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff and or Principal Private Secretary and is composed of party advisers, media specialists, and political strategists. Scholars including Professor

Anne Tiernan Professor Anne Tiernan is from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Tiernan is a writer, educator, political scientist, and consultant in areas of public administration, public policy and research analysis. She is known for her research expertise in p ...

of Griffith University and Professor James Walter of Monash University have observed the centralisation and expansion of power within the PMO over the past three decades. The PMO should not be confused with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, which is a public service entity that provides non-political policy coordination and executive support for the Prime Minister and Cabinet's agenda or with the Prime Minister's official residences at The Lodge and

Kirribilli House Kirribilli House is the secondary official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia. Located in the Sydney harbourside suburb of , New South Wales, the house is at the far eastern end of Kirribilli Avenue. It is one of two official Prime M ...

History

The origins of the contemporary Prime Minister's Office can be found with Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser who cemented the central authority of the Prime Minister through an adviser structure. Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating also continued to expand the role and size of the Prime Minister's Office through the coordination of the development and implementation of the government's agenda. Prime Minister John Howard further expanded and centralised power within the PMO.

Roles and activities

The role of the Prime Minister's Office has changed over time but has consistently been a source of political advice for the Prime Minister of the day.

Structure and staff

The organisational structure and staffing arrangements of the Prime Minister's Office changed with the personal preferences, political interests, and strategic priorities of the Prime Minister of the day. Nevertheless, there has been the trend of the increasing size of the PMO since the Hawke and Keating Governments. Traditionally, the two key positions within the PMO have been the Chief of Staff and the Principal Private Secretary. The PMO also seconds Departmental Liaison Officers from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to enable engagement for the flow of advice, correspondence, submissions and other communications to and from the PMO and PM&C.

Chiefs of Staff

The position of Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Australia was formally created by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1972 to run the political and private office of the Prime Minister.

List of Chiefs of Staff

Peter Wilenski Peter Stephen Wilenski, (10 May 1939 – 3 November 1994) was a senior Australian public servant and ambassador. He was a champion of women's rights and equal opportunity. Early life Peter Wilenski was born in Łódź, Poland on 10 May 1939. He ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam) *

Tony Eggleton Anthony "Tony" Eggleton, AO, CVO (born 30 April 1932), is a former Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia. He first came to public prominence as the press secretary to the Prime Minister of Australia, Harold Holt, at the time of the ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser) * David Kemp (Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser 1981) *

Sandy Hollway David Alexander Hollway is a former senior Australian public servant and policymaker. He retired from the Australian Public Service in 1996 to head the 2000 Summer Olympics. Background and career Hollway graduated from the University of Sydne ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1988-1990) * Dennis Richardson (Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1990-1991) *

Don Russell Dr Donald Russell is a former senior Australian public servant and administrator. He is currently the Chairman of AustralianSuper, Australia's largest superannuation fund. Education Don Russell has a PhD from the London School of Economics, a ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Paul Keating 1991-1993) *

Allan Hawke Allan Douglas Hawke (18 February 1948 – 31 August 2022) was Australian senior public servant and diplomat. During his public service career, Hawke served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Paul Keating; Secretary of the Department of Vetera ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Paul Keating 1993-1996) * Nicole Feely (Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard 1996-1997) *

Grahame Morris Grahame Mark Morris (born 13 March 1961) is a Labour Party (UK), British Labour Party politician. He was elected at the 2010 United Kingdom general election, 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Easington (UK Parliament c ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard 1997) *

Arthur Sinodinos Arthur Sinodinos (born 25 February 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former Liberal Party politician who has been Ambassador to the United States since February 2020. He served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard from 1997 to 200 ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard 1997-2006) * David Epstein (Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd 2006-2008) * Alister Jordan (Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd 2008-2010) * Amanda Lampe (Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Julia Gillard 2010-2011) * Ben Hubbard (Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Julia Gillard 2011-2013) *

Peta Credlin Peta-Louise Mary Credlin (born 23 March 1971) is an Australian former political advisor who served as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (Australia), Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Tony Abbott for his term from September 2013 to September ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Tony Abbott 2013-2015) *

Drew Clarke Andrew Leigh Clarke is a former senior Australian public servant who served as Secretary of several departments and as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, before his retirement in April 2017. Since his retirement from the public ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull 2015-2017) *

Greg Moriarty Gregory Laurence Moriarty (born 4 April 1964) is a senior Australian public servant and diplomat, and the current Secretary of the Department of Defence (Australia), Secretary of the Department of Defence since 4 September 2017. He was previousl ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull 2017) *

Peter Woolcott Peter Richard Woolcott (born 19 October 1953) is an Australian public servant, diplomat and the current Australian Public Service Commissioner. He was previously the Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Woolcott has served as the ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull 2017-2018) * John Kunkel (Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Scott Morrison 2018-2022) *

Tim Gartrell Tim Gartrell (born 1970) is an Australian political advisor currently serving as the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Australia under Anthony Albanese. He previously served as the National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party betwee ...

(Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese 2022-Ongoing)

Principal Private Secretary

Prior to the formalisation of the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff in 1972, the Prime Minister's Office was traditionally headed by a career public servant known as the Principal Private Secretary. The position of Principal Private Secretary functioned as a Chief of Staff and has been responsible for the management of relationships and stakeholders at the direction of the Prime Minister.

List of Principal Private Secretaries

* Frank Jennings (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Robert Menzies 1963-1966) * Frank Jennings (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Harold Holt 1966-1967) * Ian Grigg (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister William McMahon 1971-1972) * Peter Wilenski (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam 1972) * Dale Budd (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser 1975-1978) * Graham Evans (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1983-1986) * Chris Connybeare (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1986-1988) * Sandy Hollway (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1988-1990) * Dennis Richardson (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1990–1991) * Sally Cray (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull 2015-2017) * Yaron Finkelstein (Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Scott Morrison 2018-ongoing)

In popular culture

The Prime Minister's Office was satirised in the television comedy series

The Hollowmen ''The Hollowmen'' is an Australian television comedy series set in the offices of the Central Policy Unit, a fictional political advisory unit personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him get re-elected. Their brief is long-term vision; t ...

, which centred on the fictitious Central Policy Unit inspired by the Cabinet Policy Unit established by Prime Minister John Howard.The Hollowmen

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

References

External links

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Official website of the Prime Minister of Australia

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

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 ...

Politics of Australia