Finn Pratt AO PSM

I sincerely thank Mr Finn Pratt AO PSM for his dedicated service as Secretary of the Department of Social Services (DSS) and congratulate him on his new appointment as the Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Energy.

Mr Pratt has been Secretary of the Department of Social Services since it was established in 2013 after the federal election. Before that he was Secretary of the predecessor of DSS, the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and earlier led the Department of Human Services and Centrelink.

I personally have been privileged to work with Mr Pratt over the past two years since I was sworn in as Minister for Social Services in 2015.

Mr Pratt is a committed public servant with more than 30 years’ experience in social policy, program management and service delivery and has served in Secretary/CEO roles under both Coalition and Labor Governments. As secretary of DSS, Mr Pratt has had responsibility for the department with the largest financial share of the Federal Budget. In the four years since 2013, Mr Pratt has worked with the Government to restrain and make the Australian welfare budget sustainable and in the last two years has also overseen the Government’s major reform of the welfare system which is now before Parliament.

Mr Pratt has also implemented significant reform in disability services, including the establishment of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which is making a positive change in the lives of many people with disability, their families and carers.

Under Mr Pratt’s stewardship of DSS, more than 210,000 more families are meeting immunisation requirements through the Department’s successful implementation of the No Jab, No Pay policy in 2016 and he has been integral to the delivery of settlement services to refugees, including 12,000 refugees fleeing conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Mr Pratt’s dedication to the public service and its role in improving the lives of Australians was recognised in 2008 when he was awarded the Public Service Medal and again in 2015 when he was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia.

I wish him well in his new role as Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Energy.

I have already worked closely with Kathryn Campbell in her capacity as Secretary of the Department of Human Services, where she has been responsible for implementing the delivery of the Government’s welfare reforms. I look forward to working with her in her new capacity as Secretary of my Department and congratulate her on her appointment.