Bill Pritchett

William Beal Pritchett AO (31 January 1921 – 28 January 2014) was a senior Australian public servant. He was Secretary of the Department of Defence between 1979 and 1984.

Bill Pritchett
AO
Secretary of the Department of Defence
In office
16 August 1979 – 6 February 1984
Personal details
Born
William Beal Pritchett

(1921-01-31)31 January 1921
Sydney
Died28 January 2014(2014-01-28) (aged 92)
NationalityAustralia Australian
SpouseElvira "De" Voorstad
ChildrenIsabel and Henry
Alma materUniversity of Sydney (BA)
OccupationPublic servant

Early life and education

Bill Pritchett was born on 31 January 1921.[1] He attended the Sydney Church of England Grammar School.[1] Pritchett studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree at Sydney University, studying in history and anthropology.[2]

Career

Pritchett served in World War II and then before joining the Commonwealth Public Service in 1945 as a Cadet in the Department of External Affairs.[1] His first overseas post was to Indonesia, during the country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands.[1]

In 1965, Pritchett was appointed Australia High Commissioner to newly independent Singapore.[3] In 1973, Pritchett was recruited to the Defence Department by his former boss in External Affairs, Arthur Tange.[4]

From 1978 to 1979, Pritchett was the Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence. He was later appointed Secretary of the Defence Department when Tange retired in 1979.[1][5] During his time as departmental head, Pritchett worked to improve the departmental culture.[6][7]

Pritchett retired from the public service in 1984.[1][8]

Awards and honours

In January 1984 Pritchett was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his public service.[9]

References
  1. Furlonger, Bob (8 February 2014). "William Pritchett: From diplomat to head of Defence Department". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014.
  2. Barratt, Paul (28 January 2014), "Vale Bill Prichett 1921–2014", Australian Observer, archived from the original on 6 February 2014
  3. "Our man for new State". The Canberra Times. ACT. 14 August 1965. p. 4.
  4. Furlonger, Bob (7 February 2014). "William Pritchett: From diplomacy to the Defence Department". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014.
  5. CA 46: Department of Defence [III], Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 16 February 2014
  6. "Vale W.D. Pritchett, 1921-2014", Letter to the Canberra Times (not published), Australia Defence Association, 7 February 2014, archived from the original on 15 February 2014
  7. Dobell, Graeme (6 February 2014), "To think and to do in Defence", The Strategist: The Australian Strategic Policy Institute Blog, The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, archived from the original on 14 February 2014
  8. Waterford, Jack (2 February 2014). "A gentleman in an unforgiving world". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 6 February 2014.
  9. Search Australian Honours: PRITCHETT, William Beal, Australian Government
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