Graham Charles Evans (born 22 January 1943) is a former senior Australian public servant and policymaker.

Background and early life

Evans was born on 22 January 1943. He attended high school at

St Patrick's College, Ballarat , motto_translation = To Do and To Teach , city = Ballarat , state = Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent second ...

. His university studies were at

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb ...

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

and

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Career

From 1968 to 1981, Evans held positions in overseas postings. His early public service career saw him variously working in positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs, the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Evans was appointed to his first

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 ...

role in 1986, as head of the

Department of Resources and Energy The Department of Resources and Energy was an Australian government department that existed between March 1983 and July 1987. History The Department was one of three new Departments established by the Hawke government in March 1 ...

(later

Department of Primary Industries and Energy The Department of Primary Industries and Energy was an Australian government department that existed between July 1987 and October 1998. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be ...

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

proposed Evans for the role of Secretary of the

Department of Transport and Communications The Department of Transport and Communications was an Australian government department that existed between July 1987 and December 1993. History The Department of Transport and Communications was one of 16 'super-ministries' announced ...

in 1988. Evans continued on as Secretary of the

Department of Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

when the Transport and Communications mega department was split into two. In 1992 Evans brought defamation proceedings to the ACT Supreme Court against John Fairfax Group over an article titled 'Cosy in the Corridors of Power' that had appeared in the ''

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 ...

'' in April 1990. Evans claimed that the article implied his success in the public service was because of the patronage of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke. His action was dismissed in the ACT Supreme court in February 1993 and his appeal was rejected in the Federal Court in May 1994. Evans retired from a 27-year career 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 ...

in 1995, at which time he was appointed to the Board of

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...

. In 1995 he was also appointed the head of external affairs at BHP, a position which he held until 2005.

Awards

In 1995 Evans 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 Go ...

, for service to micro-economic reform in the transport and communications fields.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Graham Charles Australian public servants Living people 1943 births Officers of the Order of Australia Australian National University alumni University of Melbourne alumni