Professor Glyn Davis has been announced as the next secretary for the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet (DPM&C). 

The public sector stalwart has been named as the next head of the APS, replacing Phil Gaetjens, who became mired in political controversy while serving the previous Coalition government. 

Professor Davis was vice-chancellor of Melbourne University for 13 years (2005-2018) and has been an ardent observer of the decline of capability within the Australian Public Service. 

His new role should allow him to strategise and implement plans for a better-resourced workforce.

Professor Davis has also served as a member of the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service in 2019 and is chair of the ANZSOG Research Committee. Prior to that, he headed the Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet under the Beattie government and served as vice-chancellor of Griffith University in 2002 before joining the Melbourne University leadership team. 

He has affiliations with ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy and has been a director of the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King’s College London. 

“To be a partner, one among many operating across a lively network, the commonwealth must not assume control but rather to work within a coalition of service providers around a shared goal,” Dr Davis said in an address last year.

“It requires humility and collaboration from everyone involved, including public servants and ministers impatient for results.

“If implemented with skill, the ideas of partners within a network, a rich ecology of communities and charities, agencies and activists, could offer an exciting future for public service.”