Peter Shergold

Peter Roger Shergold AC is an Australian academic and former public servant. Until February 2008, he was the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC), and as such was the nation's most senior public servant and a key advisor to the Prime Minister of Australia. He was succeeded by Terry Moran, who had been the head of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet.

After retiring from the position in February 2008, Shergold became the first head of the Centre for Social Impact at the University of New South Wales. [cite news | last=Armitage | first=Catherine | title=Top public servant to take post | date=December 10, 2007 | publisher=The Australian | url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22896720-12332,00.html]

Shergold earned a Bachelor of Arts in politics and American studies from the University of Hull, and later a Master of Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Doctor of Philosophy from the London School of Economics. 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.

In 1987 he began working for the Australian federal government, firstly with the newly established Office of Multicultural Affairs. Having become deputy secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1990, he directed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (1991-1994) and Comcare, a federal government workers' compensation authority (1994-1995). From 1995 to 1998, he was the Commissioner of the Australian Public Service. He has also been the Secretary of the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business (1998-2002) and the Department of Education, Science and Training (2002-03). In 2003 he was appointed Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Since 2006, Shergold has also served as the chairman of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1996, [ [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=885117&search_type=quick&showInd=true It's an Honour] - Member of the Order of Australia] and a Companion of the Order in 2007, [It's An Honour (2007). [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1133680&search_type=quick&showInd=true SHERGOLD, Peter Roger] . Retrieved December 30, 2007.] as well as receiving the Centenary Medal in 2001. [ [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1115259&search_type=quick&showInd=true It's an Honour] - Centenary Medal]

References

External links

* [http://www.pmc.gov.au/about_pmc/secretary_biography.cfm PMC biography]