Secretary's Awards 2017

The following individuals and teams received Secretary‘s Awards in 2017:

Philip Nigg. For consistently demonstrating strong leadership and excellence in the delivery of policy and financial advice in the Veterans’ Affairs Agency Advice Unit.

John Morris. For building organisational capability in programming and data analysis by establishing the ‘Code Crew‘.

Ross Dobson, Julie Papathanasiou, Ruveni Goonewardene, Luke Kostava, Kathryn Silk, Craig Cooper, Emma Lindfield, Samantha McDonough and Katrina Morgan. For outstanding results in establishing the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority.

Alex El-Debel, Byung Ahn, Rakesh Roy, Gunarjun Vallabhaneni, Tony Sultana, Ravi Gopu, Yane Dimitrovski and Helen Lloyd. For providing seamless access to standardised corporate services for government agencies through an Enterprise Resource Planning system in the cloud.

Stacey Bolto, Calandra Colman, Jakub Wegrzyn, Jon Barry, Jacob Grooby, Marina Cvetanovska, Verena Antolovic, Danielle Broomfield, Tom Hogan, Nic Thongsrinoon, Matt Harris, Katharine Stuart and Krystyna Rymer. For outstanding collaboration and leadership to deliver a high-quality set of initiatives through the Public Service Modernisation Fund, as part of the 2017–18 Budget process.

Dane Roberts, Peter Docherty, Paddy Leane, Jen Dunn, Jacob Grooby and Claire Saunders. For transforming property data collection across the Commonwealth.

Sally Foster and Jasmin Brookes. For their commitment and support to Finance’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.

Australia Day Awards 2018

The following individuals and teams were recognised at Finance’s Australia Day Awards in 2018:

Sarah Roarty, Jason Zapasnik, Alex McElwee, Tracie-Ann Maher and Roslyn Oliver. For leading and building risk management capability through the Comcover Fund – Education Program.

Alison McIntosh. For displaying strong leadership by working to ensure that every IT release has the smallest possible impact on Finance users and outcomes.

Louise Sasaki, Andrew Fadden, Lily Phan and Anthony Isaacson. For excellent analytical work, in collaboration with colleagues from the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities.

Lisa King. For continuously demonstrating leadership through her commitment to building andnurturing genuine relationships for staff within Finance, and across the Commonwealth.

Tony Huntley, Sam Carter, Janice Firth, Helen Dempsey, Carley Weiss-Kelly, Nicholas Darman, Mara Celebija and Greg Potter. For improving the Commonwealth fibre optic network (ICON) and excelling in agency and external communication and collaboration.

Imogen Colton, Sarah Kovacevic, Barry Kuang, Valerie Jurica, Lexie Bennett, Brett Ubrihien, Lizzy Batten, Sandra Rogers, Devi Wibowo, Elliot Zwangobani, Ashlee Livingstone and John Dinn. For recognising the development and ongoing implementation of the Property Services Coordinated Procurement arrangements that establish a new approach to the management of Commonwealth property.

Jodie Harley. For going above and beyond expectations in delivering COMCAR Services to our Highest Profile Clients.

Shevaun Fitzmyers, Matthew Castle, Laura Doherty, Joanna Eisemann, Margreet Philp, Ruveni Goonewardene, Andrew Johnson, Amal Mueller, Graham Robinson, Ryan Balthazaar, Paula Fearn and Louise Sartore. For providing high-quality policy advice, legislative reform, and defending High Court litigation relating to the conduct of elections and the marriage law survey safeguards.

Donna Valenti, Matthew Marsland, Libby Woodhill, Chunyan Jia, Natasha Stark and Paramjit Kaur. For delivering influential policy advice and accurate budget estimates relating to the Government’s Quality Schools package.

External awards

Finance staff received, or were shortlisted for, the following external awards during 2017–18:

Award: Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand 2017 Leadership in Government Awards—Emerging Leader of the Year Award

Recipient: Stephen Sorbello, Assistant Secretary (Acting Assistant Secretary at the time of award), ASC Reform Implementation. Stephen received the award as a young leader who has excelled and made a visible difference in the public sector.

Award: Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand 2017 Leadership in Government Awards—Outstanding Contribution in Public Administration Award

Shortlisted: Lucelle Veneros, First Assistant Secretary, Service Delivery Office.

Award: Smart Seeds program

Recipient: Kean Yong, Project Officer in Property and Construction Division, was part of the winning team and Stephen Sorbello was a mentor. The team was asked to come up with an innovative solution to the problem of ‘Flying High—how should the ACT region make better use of Canberra Airport to build a diverse and sustainable economy?’

Award: Australian Public Service Commission Graduate Development Program—Major Project Outstanding Achievement Award

Recipients: Laura Doherty, Joanne Fernandez, Thomas Gladwin, Edward Kok, Joyce Lau, Cameron Ong and Kikila Yavase. For their project, Service Delivery Office – Operating Model Definition.

Award: 2017 Public Sector Innovation Awards—Judges’ Award

Recipients: Heather Millard, Chrysanthe Psychogios, Stacey Bolto and Rina Bruinsma— for the Finance transformation program.

Award: Global Business Travel Association conference—Australia–New Zealand 2017 Travel Programme of the Year

Recipient: Whole-of-Australian-Government (WoAG) Travel team.

Award: Canberra OpenGov Leadership Forum – Recognition of Excellence

Recipient: Online Services Branch. For GovCMS, an open source web content management system for government agencies.