# Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia)

The secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is the public service head of Australia's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the most senior public servant in the administration of Government in Australia.
The secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet should not be confused with the Cabinet secretary, a ministerial position within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio responsible for assisting the prime minister in the procedural and operational matters of the Cabinet of Australia.
The secretary of the DPMC is Australia’s highest-paid bureaucrat, earning more than $914,000, as of 2019.

## List of secretaries

Below is the list of secretaries, since the first appointment was made on 1 January 1912.
| Order | Name | Title | Date appointment commenced | Date appointment ceased | Term in office | Prime Minister(s) |
| 1 | Malcolm Shepherd, CMG | Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department | 1 January 1912 (1912-01-01) | 27 January 1921 (1921-01-27) | 9 years, 26 days | Fisher; Cook; Fisher; Hughes |
| 2 | Percy Deane, CMG | Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department | 11 February 1921 (1921-02-11) | 31 December 1928 (1928-12-31) | 7 years, 324 days | Hughes; Bruce |
| 3 | Sir John McLaren, CMG | Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department | 1 January 1929 (1929-01-01) | 2 March 1933 (1933-03-02) | 4 years, 60 days | Bruce; Scullin; Lyons |
| 4 | John Starling, CMG, OBE | Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department | 3 March 1933 (1933-03-03) | 10 November 1935 (1935-11-10) | 2 years, 252 days | Lyons |
| 5 | Frank Strahan, CVO, CBE | Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department | 11 November 1935 (1935-11-11) | 25 August 1949 (1949-08-25) | 13 years, 287 days | Lyons; Page; Menzies; Fadden; Curtin; Forde; Chifley |
| 6 | Sir Allen Brown, CBE | Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department | 25 August 1949 (1949-08-25) | 31 December 1958 (1958-12-31) | 9 years, 128 days | Menzies |
| 7 | Sir John Bunting, CBE | Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department | 1 January 1959 (1959-01-01) | 10 March 1968 (1968-03-10) | 9 years, 69 days | Menzies; Holt; McEwen; Gorton |
| 8 | Sir Lenox Hewitt, OBE | Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department | 11 March 1968 (1968-03-11) | 12 March 1971 (1971-03-12) | 3 years, 1 day | Gorton; McMahon |
| n/a | Sir John Bunting, CBE | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 17 March 1971 (1971-03-17) | 31 January 1975 (1975-01-31) | 3 years, 320 days | McMahon; Whitlam |
| 9 | John Menadue | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 1 February 1975 (1975-02-01) | 30 September 1976 (1976-09-30) | 1 year, 242 days | Whitlam; Fraser |
| 10 | Sir Alan Carmody, CBE | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 1 October 1976 (1976-10-01) | 12 April 1978 (1978-04-12) | 1 year, 193 days | Fraser |
| 11 | Sir Geoffrey Yeend, AC, CBE | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 18 April 1978 (1978-04-18) | 10 February 1986 (1986-02-10) | 7 years, 298 days | Fraser; Hawke |
| 12 | Mike Codd, AC | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 10 February 1986 (1986-02-10) | 1 December 1991 (1991-12-01) | 5 years, 294 days | Hawke |
| 13 | Dr Michael Keating, AC | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 1 December 1991 (1991-12-01) | 13 May 1996 (1996-05-13) | 4 years, 164 days | Hawke; Keating; Howard |
| 14 | Max Moore-Wilton, AC | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 13 May 1996 (1996-05-13) | 20 December 2002 (2002-12-20) | 6 years, 221 days | Howard |
| 15 | Dr Peter Shergold, AC | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 10 February 2003 (2003-02-10) | 28 February 2008 (2008-02-28) | 5 years, 20 days | Howard; Rudd |
| 16 | Terry Moran, AC | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 3 March 2008 (2008-03-03) | 5 September 2011 (2011-09-05) | 3 years, 186 days | Rudd; Gillard |
| 17 | Dr Ian Watt, AO | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 5 September 2011 (2011-09-05) | 30 November 2014 (2014-11-30) | 3 years, 86 days | Gillard; Rudd; Abbott |
| 18 | Michael Thawley, AO | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 1 December 2014 (2014-12-01) | 23 January 2016 (2016-01-23) | 1 year, 53 days | Abbott, Turnbull |
| 19 | Dr Martin Parkinson, AC, PSM | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 23 January 2016 (2016-01-23) | 2 September 2019 (2019-09-02) | 3 years, 222 days | Turnbull, Morrison |
| 20 | Phil Gaetjens | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 2 September 2019 (2019-09-02) | 22 May 2022 (2022-05-22) | 2 years, 262 days | Morrison |
| 21 | Stephanie Foster, PSM | Acting Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 22 May 2022 (2022-05-22) | 5 June 2022 | 14 days | Albanese |
| 22 | Prof Glyn Davis AC | Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | 6 June 2022 | | 2 years, 216 days | Albanese |

### Notes

    ^1 Sir Alan Carmody CBE died suddenly of coronary vascular disease on 12 April 1978; during the term of his appointment.

## Historical arrangements

Within days of John Gorton becoming Prime Minister, the functions of the Prime Minister's Department was split and a Department of the Cabinet Office was established. On taking office as Prime Minister in 1971, William McMahon reversed Gorton's changes and restored earlier changes via the creation of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. A lesser role of Secretary to the Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council was established for a short time; abolished in the early days of the Whitlam government. Upon election to office in 1996, John Howard established a separate Cabinet Office within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Cabinet Office was a small unit, staffed from within and outside the public service, which provided the Prime Minister with advice on issues before Cabinet as well as strategic policy directions.

### Secretary to the Department of the Cabinet Office

| Order | Name | Title | Date appointment commenced | Date appointment ceased | Term in office | Ref(s) |
| 1 | Sir John Bunting CBE | Secretary to the Department of the Cabinet Office | 11 March 1968 (1968-03-11) | 17 March 1971 (1971-03-17) | 3 years, 6 days | |
| 2 | Michael L'Estrange AO | Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Cabinet Policy Unit | 8 March 1996 (1996-03-08) | 30 June 2000 (2000-06-30) | 4 years, 114 days | |

### Secretary to the Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council

| Order | Name | Title | Date appointment commenced | Date appointment ceased | Term in office | Ref(s) |
| 1 | Sir Lenox Hewitt | Secretary to the Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council | 17 March 1971 (1971-03-17) | 20 December 1972 (1972-12-20) | 1 year, 278 days | |