Hunger for movement and action—Sue Vardon, AO

Abstract

Sue Vardon spent 23 years as a chief executive (CE) in federal and state government agencies. She has an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia and has been an adjunct professor at both Canberra University and the University of South Australia and was the inaugural Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year in 1995. She was educated as a social worker at the University of New South Wales and worked in local government in NSW, both metropolitan and country. She held senior positions in the NSW Department for Community Services before moving to South Australia to become the Director General of Community Welfare. This was followed by the CE of the Office of Public Sector Reform, the Public Service Commissioner and the CE of the Department for Correctional Services in South Australia. She was the inaugural CE of Centrelink, which was established in 1997, and her last position was CE of the South Australian Department for Families and Communities, bringing together housing, disability, domiciliary care and family services. Included in this work was her role as State Recovery Co-ordinator and Chair of the National Community Services and Disability Administrators Disaster Recovery Group. Sue’s inspirational story demonstrates her strength of character and shrewdness in choice of strategy.