Dr Peter Shergold AC joins Corrs Board

22 June 2009

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Corrs Chambers Westgarth has appointed former Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr Peter Shergold AC, to its Board.

Dr Shergold is currently a director of AMP Limited, a Professor in the Australian School of Business at the University of New South Wales and the Chair of the Centre for Social Impact, a cross-university partnership of the business schools at the University of New South Wales, Melbourne University and Swinburne University of Technology. He has spent two decades in federal public service CEO positions, including Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and Comcare. He has been the Secretary of three federal government departments, including five years from 2003 in the country’s most senior public service position, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Corrs Partner and Chairman of the Board, John Kelly, welcomed the appointment. “Dr Shergold’s deep knowledge of both government and business would be an asset to any business. We are very pleased to have been able to attract him to our board. His expertise adds an external point of view of the highest calibre, especially in challenging economic times.”

Dr. Shergold’s appointment to the Corrs Board begins in June and is for a three year term.

Biographical Notes - Dr Peter Shergold AC

Dr Shergold was a CEO in the Australian Public Service for two decades. In 1987 he established the Office of Multicultural Affairs. From 1991 he headed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). At the end of his term in July 1994 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Comcare. He was Public Service Commissioner from September 1995 to February 1998. From then until January 2002 he served as Secretary of the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. Then he became the Secretary of the Department of Education, Science and Training.

For five years from February 2003, Dr Shergold was Australia's most senior public administrator serving as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He directly served three Prime Ministers and eight Ministers in both Coalition and Labor governments.

He was made a Member in the Order of Australia (AM) for public service on Australia Day 1996 and was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2003. In 2007, he was elevated to Australia's highest award, the Companion in the Order of Australia (AC).

Dr Shergold has recently been appointed Professor in the Australian School of Business at the University of New South Wales. He is the Macquarie Group Foundation Chair at the Centre for Social Impact, a cross-university partnership of the business schools at the University of New South Wales, Melbourne University and Swinburne University of Technology. In addition he is a Senior Visiting Fellow of the Singapore Civil Service College.

Dr Shergold joined the Board of AMP in May 2008. He is the Chair of a small venture capital start-up, QuintessenceLabs, which is working on quantum cryptography. He is actively involved in the non-profit sector and is Chair of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and a director of the National Indigenous Development Centre.