Peter Roger Shergold is an Australian

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

company director A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

, and former

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. Shergold was the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Western Sydney University Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...

from 2011 through 2022. Between February 2003 and February 2008, he was the

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as such was the most senior official 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 ...

Early life and education

Shergold was born in Crawley New Town, England. He earned a Bachelor of Arts (first-class) in politics and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

studies from the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...

, and later a Master of Arts degree in American history from the

University of Illinois at Chicago Circle The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...

and a PhD from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. After moving to Australia, he became a lecturer in economics at the University of New South Wales in 1972. He was appointed as head of the university's economic history department in 1985. His dissertation in comparative labour history was published as ''Working-Class Life: The "American Standard" in Comparative Perspective, 1899–1913'' in 1982.

Public service career

In 1987 he began working for the

Australian federal government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

, firstly as head of the newly established

Office of Multicultural Affairs Multiculturalism in Australia is today reflected by the multicultural composition of its people, its immigration policies, its prohibition on discrimination, equality before the law of all persons, as well as various cultural policies which pro ...

. Having become deputy secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1990, he was appointed the CEO of the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...

(1991–1994) and Comcare, a federal government workers' compensation authority (1994–1995). From 1995 to 1998, he was the Commissioner of the

. He has also been the Secretary of the

Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business The Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business was an Australian government department that existed between October 1998 and November 2001. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or government fund ...

(1998–2001) and the

Department of Education, Science and Training The Department of Education, Science and Training (also called DEST) was an Government of Australia, Australian government Government department, department that existed between November 2001 and December 2007. Scope Information about ...

(2001–03). In 2003 he was appointed Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Academic and business career

After retiring from the Australian public service in February 2008, Shergold became the first head of

The Centre for Social Impact The Centre for Social Impact is an Australian research and education body created in 2008. It assesses and promotes integrated social change across a range of issues including health, children and young people, ageing and disability, financia ...

, a joint collaboration between the business schools of the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

Melbourne Business School Melbourne Business School (MBS) is the graduate business school of the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The School offers an MBA program, specialist Masters programs, a doctoral program, and executive education programs. The MBS Head ...

Swinburne University of Technology Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1908 as the Eastern Suburbs Technical College by George Swinburne to serve those without access ...

and the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. In that capacity he was a frequent media commentator on the relationship between governments and not-for-profit organisations, new forms of social business and entrepreneurship and corporate responsibility and accountability. He co-hosted 'Social Business' on

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...

Business Channel. From 2006–08, Shergold served as the chairman of the

Australia and New Zealand School of Government The Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) is an educational institution that teaches strategic management and high-level policy to public sector leaders. Formed in 2002 by a consortium of governments, universities and business ...

. He is currently a non-executive director of financial services company

AMP Limited AMP is a financial services company in Australia and New Zealand providing superannuation and investment products, financial advice, and banking products (through AMP Banking) including home loans and savings accounts. Its headquarters is in Sy ...

and Australian law firm

Corrs Chambers Westgarth Founded in 1841, Corrs Chambers Westgarth (often referred to as ''Corrs'') is a leading, independent Australian commercial law firm. Its clients include national and international corporations, governments, banks and financial sponsors. The firm ...

. He is chairman of Opal Aged Care, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and serves on the boards of the General Sir John Monash Foundation and the

National Centre of Indigenous Excellence The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) is an Australian federal government statutory authority with national responsibilities to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to acquire land and to manage assets to achieve cultura ...

. He chairs the ethics committee of the Fundraising Institute Australia. In 2011 Shergold became the Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney; and was appointed as chairman of the New South Wales Public Service Commission. In August 2018 Shergold was appointment Chair of the Joblife Employment Board. In December 2019 Shergold was appointed chair of the

New South Wales Education Standards Authority The New South Wales Education Standards Authority (abbreviated as NESA) is the state government education statutory authority with the responsibility for the establishment and monitoring of school standards in the Australian state of New South W ...

. In December 2022, Shergold retired as Chancellor of Western Sydney University after 12 years in the position.

Honours

In 1996, Shergold was appointed a

Member 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 ...

.Member of the Order of Australia
(AM), It's an Honour In 2007 he was appointed a Companion of the Order, for service to the community as a significant leader of changes and innovation in the public sector, particularly through the development and implementation of a whole-of-government approach to policy development and program delivery.Companion of the Order of Australia
(AC), 26 January 2007, It's an Honour. Retrieved 30 December 2007. Shergold was a recipient of 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 2001.Centenary Medal
It's an Honour He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

in 2016.

Early life and education

Public service career

Academic and business career

Honours

References

Further reading