John Taylor (public servant) explained

John Taylor
Office1:Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs
Term Start1:6 May 1981
Term End1:29 March 1984
Office2:Commonwealth Auditor-General
Term Start2:1988
Term End2:13 January 1995
Birth Name:John Casey Taylor
Birth Date:2 December 1930
Birth Place:Melbourne
Death Place:Canberra
Occupation:Public servant
Nationality: Australian
Spouse:Valerie Booth
(m. 1959–2011; his death)
Alma Mater:University of Melbourne
Australian National University

John Casey Taylor (2 December 193014 May 2011) was a senior Australian public servant. He was Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs from 1981 to 1984.

Life and career

John Taylor was born on 2 December 1930 in Melbourne.[1] He graduated from University of Melbourne with a degree in commerce.[2]

Taylor joined the Australian Public Service in 1952 as a clerk in the Victorian branch of the Postmaster-General's Department.[3]

Between 1974 and 1981, Taylor was a Commissioner on the Public Service Board.[4]

In 1981 he was appointed Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. According to Charles Perkins, who succeeded him as Secretary in the department, his departure in 1984 was against his wishes. He was made a special adviser to the Department until June 1984, when he was appointed Australia's Consul-General in New York.[5]

Between 1988 and 1995 he was Commonwealth Auditor-General. As Auditor-General, Taylor said he saw his main achievements as providing a much more efficient and focused service to the Australian Parliament and people, and keeping up with (if not getting ahead of) contemporary professional standards.[6]

Taylor died on 14 May 2011.

Awards

In 1990, Taylor was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his public service.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: PS worker rose to be auditor. 16 June 2011. The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. 12.
  2. News: New heads to two departments named. Ross. Andrews. 7 May 1981. The Canberra Times. 1.
  3. Untitled. https://web.archive.org/web/20140510052113/http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=7312. 10 May 2014. Robert. Hawke. Bob Hawke. 22 April 1988.
  4. News: Taylor is new head auditor. The Canberra Times. 23 April 1988. 7.
  5. News: The Canberra Times. 16 June 1984. Diplomatic post. 3.
  6. News: Ian. Henderson. 7 January 1995. Auditor quits with a blast. 1. The Canberra Times.