Stephanie Foster (public servant)

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Stephanie Foster
PSM
Stephanie Foster
Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs
Assumed office
28 November 2023
Preceded byMike Pezzullo
Personal details
NationalityAustralian
Alma materMonash University
OccupationPublic Servant
AwardsPSM

Stephanie Foster, PSM is an Australian senior public servant. She assumed the role of Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs in November 2023,[1][2][3] replacing long-serving secretary Mike Pezullo after his dismissal for breaching the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct.[4] Some commentators described her appointment as one focused on 'cleaning up' after her predecessor's maladministration.[3][5]

Career[edit]

Foster's career in the Australian Public Service began in 1987 in the area of Defence. First, after entering as a graduate, she spent 16 years at the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), including as a signals intelligence officer. In 2003, she moved out of DSD and was appointed to lead Defence’s International Policy Division as first assistant secretary.[3]

She was first appointed to the level of Deputy Secretary in November 2008, when she moved to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.[6] There — among other duties — she was responsible delivering an infrastructure package for local government, the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program (RLCIP). A stimulus measure responding to the Global Financial Crisis, the RLCIP allocated over $1.1 billion to local governments for community infrastructure projects, with the goals of stimulating the economy to aid in economic recovery, generating employment opportunities, and helping councils tackle the accumulation of pending work in community infrastructure.[7]

Foster served as Deputy Secretary of Governance at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) starting in December 2017.[8] Her responsibilities there included overseeing the Executive Branch of Government, managing Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and promoting the government's legislative agenda. She rose to public prominence in that role when she conducted a review of processes for workplace complaints at Parliament House in response to allegations that Brittany Higgins, a former ministerial staffer was sexually assaulted by a colleague in the office of the then-defence industry minister in 2019.[9] All ten recommendations of the resultant 'Foster Report' were accepted by the Government, including the establishment of a one-hour optional sexual harassment training program for Australian parliamentarians, and an incident reporting hotline.[10] Foster was briefly Acting Secretary of Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet after the resignation of Phil Gaetjens in 2022.[11]

Prior to her appointment as Secretary of Home Affairs, Foster held the role of Associate Secretary of Immigration within the agency.

She received the Public Service Medal in 2008 "for outstanding public service in the provision of high-level policy advice to government in relation to the deployment of Australian military personnel on overseas operations".[12]

Education[edit]

Foster holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Monash University.[13]

Controversies[edit]

The Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program — for which Foster was responsible as the Deputy Secretary overseeing Policy and Implementation, under Secretary Glenys Beauchamp[14] — was the subject of two highly critical performance audits.[15][7] In their first audit, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) found that only some grant applications were subject to "systematic consideration of eligibility and compliance" and that the assessment criteria that would be used to select the successful applications were never published. The most "significant failing" identified in the audit was the failure to "provide recommendations to the Minister about which projects should be approved within the available funding of $550 million".[15] In their second audit, the ANAO found that the department had not adequately monitored grant expenditure, leading to delays in delivering the planned fiscal stimulus.[7] Foster described the audit reports as "the worst...the department has ever had to date as a result of my management of that program."[16]

Foster was the subject of considerable media scrutiny during her time as Deputy Secretary of Governance at DPMC. When answering questions at Senate Estimates about the payment of former Attorney-General Christian Porter's legal fees by a blind trust with funds from an unknown source, Foster appeared to answer a question and then wink to her right at government Senator Simon Birmingham.[17] After this was highlighted on social media, Foster at first denied that she had winked at the Senator. However, she later acknowledged that it was possible that she was winking, but held that she was winking at a departmental colleague rather than the Senator.[17]

Also while in DPMC, Foster played a role in the Scott Morrison ministerial positions controversy. As Deputy Secretary Governance, it was Foster who suggested that the Prime Minister also assume the Health Ministers powers during the COVID-19 pandemic by being “cross sworn” into the Health portfolio.[18][19] She sought advice from the Attorney-General's Department on the legality of this possibility, who agreed that it was both lawful and possible but unnecessary.[20] Foster reportedly "did not consider the decision not to make appointment public [of Scott Morrison to the Health Portfolio] to be inappropriate or wrong."[19] Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull discussed Foster's involvement critically, tweeting that "PMC officials including Stephanie Foster must have known this was utterly without precedent and wrong. What did they do and say. If they did nothing – the system failed."[21]

The process for Foster's later appointment as Departmental Secretary of Home Affairs in late November 2023 also received considerable public criticism.[22] The Albanese Labor Government had recently committed a merit-based appointment process for all new secretaries earlier that month.[23] However, Foster's appointment was made without a merit-based process, amounting to a walking back of the Government's commitment in less than one month.[24] Critics suggest that this was inappropriate given the importance of the role and the $928,000 salary it attracts.[25]

In March 2024, Foster became the subject of media attention following the release of a document concerning crimes purportedly committed by released immigration detainees.[26] The document was made public at the beginning of Senate Estimates hearings, contrary to the reported wishes of Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, who had preferred the document to remain undisclosed and intended for Foster to address inquiries verbally later on the same day.[27] Subsequent reports indicated that Foster departed from the Minister's office visibly distressed after a rebuke for disclosing information deemed embarrassing to the Government.[28] Foster, addressing a Senate comittee, refuted allegations of verbal abuse from the Minister and denied any attempt by the Minister to influence her decision to disclose documents to the Senate.[28] She did not deny the newspaper reports that she had left her meeting with the Minister in tears.[29]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Convery, Stephanie (28 November 2023). "Stephanie Foster appointed new home affairs secretary – as it happened". The Guardian Australia.
  2. ^ Massola, James (28 November 2023). "Stephanie Foster replaces Mike Pezzullo as new Home Affairs boss". The Age.
  3. ^ a b c Bajkowski, Julian (November 28, 2023). "Stephanie Foster to clean up after Pezzullo as new head of Home Affairs". The Mandarin.
  4. ^ Packham, Ben (October 22, 2023). "Tough road ahead for Canberra's woman in red: Porsche-driving former spy Stephanie Foster faces her biggest challenge as she stakes her claim to replace Mike Pezzullo as Home Affairs secretary". The Australian.
  5. ^ Priestley, Angela (29 November 2023). "Stephanie Foster appointed Home Affairs boss with massive cleanup ahead". Women's Agenda.
  6. ^ Burgess, Verona (7 November 2008). "Canberra Insider". The Australian Financial Review. p. 62.
  7. ^ a b c Australian National Audit Office (18 May 2011). The Establishment, Implementation and Administration of the Council Allocation Component of the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program.
  8. ^ Coade, Melissa (2022-10-07). "Stephanie Foster swoops into new Home Affairs role". The Mandarin. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  9. ^ Jenkins, Shannon (15 February 2021). "PM&C official to review complaints process following sexual assault allegations". The Mandarin.
  10. ^ Coade, Melissa (2021-07-15). "Australian MPs can opt to participate in one-hour sexual harassment training". The Mandarin. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  11. ^ Coade, Melissa (23 May 2022). "It's a fresh new era as Albanese promises respect for the public service". The Mandarin. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  12. ^ Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. "Award Extract". Australian Honours Search Facility. Archived from the original on 2024-01-12. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  13. ^ Johnson, Chris (28 November 2023). "Foster formally replaces Pezzullo in the Home Affairs top job". PS News. Archived from the original on 2024-01-12. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  14. ^ Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government (14 October 2011). "Department Structure" (PDF). Australian Government—Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  15. ^ a b Australian National Audit Office (27 July 2010). The Establishment, Implementation and Administration of the Strategic Projects Component of the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program.
  16. ^ Benita, Siobhan; Foster, Stephanie (1 May 2022). "Exclusive GGF podcast with Australia's governance chief Stephanie Foster" (MP3). www.globalgovernmentforum.com. Global Governance Forum. Archived from the original on 2023-10-01. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  17. ^ a b Graham, Jackson (October 26, 2021). "Senate estimates bring mysterious wink, net-zero deal silence and training video pressure". The Mandarin.
  18. ^ Burgess, Verona (2024-02-15). "Path of public sector reform paved with roadblocks aplenty". The Mandarin. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  19. ^ a b Bell, Virginia (25 November 2022). Report of the Inquiry into the Appointment of the Former Prime Minister to Administer Multiple Departments (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. p. 34.
  20. ^ Ravlic, Tom (2022-11-27). "Bell report details how senior public servants managed Scott Morrison's additional ministries request". The Mandarin. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  21. ^ Turnbull, Malcolm. "Malcolm Turnbull on X: "Morrison's CoS, John Kunkel, had worked for John Howard. He must have known this was a bad move. Equally PMC officials including Stephanie Foster must have known this was utterly without precedent and wrong. What did they do and say. If they did nothing – the system failed."". X.
  22. ^ Gourley, Paddy (5 December 2023). "Appointment of Home Affairs Secretary Foster not merit-based". Pearls and Irritations.
  23. ^ Burton, Tom (Nov 1, 2023). "New rules to sack top mandarins". Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  24. ^ Burton, Tom (Nov 29, 2023). "Albanese dumps merit pledge to tap new Home Affairs chief". The Australian Financial Review.
  25. ^ Patrick, Rex (2024-03-02). "Senior public servant gravy train: all profit and no accountability". Michael West: Independent Journalism. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  26. ^ Evans, Jake (2024-03-27). "Opposition presses Clare O'Neil over whether home affairs boss left her office in tears". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  27. ^ Massola, James; McKenzie, Nick (March 27, 2024). "Labor blindsided after detainee documents tabled". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  28. ^ a b Holmes, Dan (2024-03-27). "Home affairs secretary Stephanie Foster denies she was bullied by minister". The Mandarin. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  29. ^ Massola, James (2024-03-27). "Home Affairs boss denies she was ever verbally abused by minister". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-04-06.


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