Helen Williams (Australian public servant)

Helen Rodda Williams AC (born 21 March 1945) is a retired Australian senior public servant. She was the first woman in the Australian Public Service to be appointed as a Secretary of an Australian government department.[1]

Helen Williams
AC
Secretary of the Department of Human Services
In office
7 May 2007 – 2009
Secretary of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
In office
23 November 2001 – 7 May 2007
Commissioner of the Australian Public Service
In office
1998–2002
Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
In office
11 March 1996 – 5 February 1998
Secretary of the Department of Tourism
In office
14 June 1993 – 11 March 1996
Secretary of the Department of Education
In office
14 January 1985 – 24 July 1987
Personal details
Born
Helen Rodda Williams

(1945-03-21) 21 March 1945
Adelaide, South Australia
NationalityAustralia Australian
SpouseBaron Friedrich von Reibnitz (m. 1979)
ChildrenAnna
OccupationPublic servant

Early life

Helen Williams was born in Adelaide, South Australia on 21 March 1945,[2] as the eldest of five daughters of academics Sir Bruce Williams and his wife, Roma Olive Hotten (1916-1992).[3]

Career

Early in her public service career, Williams joined the second division in the Department of Finance in 1979, her employment was controversial at the time due to her being a woman.[3]

When she was promoted to Deputy Secretary in the Department of Education and Youth Affairs in 1983, she became the first woman to hold a deputy secretary position in the Australian Government sphere.[4] She was Acting Secretary of the Department of Education and Youth Affairs for a short time in 1984, and was later promoted to Secretary of the Department of Education in 1985, serving in the role until 1987[5] Her appointment as Secretary of the education department was the first time a woman had been appointed to head an Australian Government department of state.[4]

Williams told The Canberra Times in 2006 that in 1987 she was criticised by some women's groups and the senior public service bureaucracy when she took six months maternity leave after having her baby.[6] Her daughter, Anna von Reibnitz, had been born in December 1986.[7]

Williams returned to work from maternity leave in 1987 on the day that a reorganisation of the public service was complete, with 28 departments cut down to just 18.[6] Williams was not one of the previous secretaries who was given a department and was instead appointed Associate Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.[6] While Associate Secretary, she headed the arm of the department responsible for Commonwealth-state relations during Prime Minister Bob Hawke's push for "New Federalism",[8] which saw the break-ups of functions between different layers of government under review.[9]

In 1993, Williams was returned to a Secretary role, this time as head of the Department of Tourism.[10][11]

1996 to 2009

Williams retired from the Australian Public Service in 2009.[13] The APS celebrated the 30th anniversary of her appointment in November 2015.[14]

Awards

Williams was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 1993 for service to public administration, particularly in the areas of education and social welfare.[15] In 2001, Williams was awarded the Centenary Medal "for service as Secretary, Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts".[16] On Australia Day 2019, Williams was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia "for eminent service to public administration through senior advisory roles, and to policy reform and innovative program delivery.".[17]

Private life

In 1979, Williams married Friedrich Baron von Reibnitz (b. 1942), a senior officer with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. He is an elder brother of Princess Michael of Kent and the only son of Günther Hubertus Freiherr von Reibnitz by his second wife, Countess Maria Anna Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchysziget et Szapár (1911–1998).[18]

Notes
  1. Brough, Jodie (27 May 1993). "Reshuffle brings a blend of personalities and style". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014.
  2. Helen Rodda Williams, archived from the original on 23 January 2014
  3. Malone 2006, p. 121.
  4. "First woman PS head named". The Canberra Times. 15 January 1985. p. 1. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014.
  5. CA 4134: Department of Education [II], Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 20 January 2014
  6. Malone 2006, p. 123.
  7. Anna von Reibnitz, archived from the original on 23 January 2014
  8. Burgess, Verona (3 April 1994). "Most bureausaurs have own worries". The Canberra Times. p. 7.
  9. Waterford, Jack (27 October 1991). "Bureaucrats should stand by for blame". The Canberra Times. p. 8.
  10. Keating, Paul (26 May 1993), Appointment of Epartmental Secretaries, archived from the original on 10 November 2013
  11. Brough, Jodie (27 May 1993). "Pioneering femocrat gets back a top job". The Canberra Times. p. 1.
  12. Howard, John (26 April 2007). "Secretary Appointments" (Press release). Archived from the original on 19 December 2013.
  13. Rudd, Kevin (13 August 2009). "Departmental secretaries and statutory office-holders, Canberra" (Press release). Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  14. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (5 November 2015). "30th Anniversary of Appointment of First Female Secretary" (Press release). Australian Government.
  15. "Ms Helen Rodda WILLIAMS - Officer of the Order of Australia". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  16. "Ms Helen WILLIAMS - Centenary Medal". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  17. "Ms Helen Rodda WILLIAMS AO - Companion of the Order of Australia". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  18. https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00009190&tree=LEO

References
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