| Honorific-Prefix: | Sir |
| William Cole | |
| Office: | Secretary of the Department of Defence |
| Term Start: | 6 February 1984 |
| Term End: | 15 October 1986 |
| Predecessor: | Bill Pritchett |
| Successor: | Alan Woods |
| Office1: | Secretary of the Department of Finance |
| Term Start1: | 7 December 1976 |
| Term End1: | 2 November 1978 |
| Predecessor1: | New department |
| Successor1: | Ian Castles |
| Birth Name: | Robert William Cole |
| Birth Date: | 16 September 1926 |
| Birth Place: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Death Place: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Public servant |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Alma Mater: | University of Melbourne |
Sir Robert William Cole (16 September 1926 – 8 January 2019)[1] [2] was a senior Australian public servant. He held secretary-level positions in four departments or agencies during the Fraser government and Hawke government years.
Cole was born in 1926 in Melbourne.[3] [4] His parents were James Cole and Rita Tassie.[5] He had two younger siblings, Geoff and Barbara.[5] He attended Northcote High School but left school in 1941.[5] He began his public-service career at the age of 15 as a telegraph messenger.[5] In 1944, he was conscripted in and served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II ending in service's postal division.[5] After being demobilised, he returned to his previous work at the Department of Supply in Melbourne.[5]
In 1948, taking advantage of the Labor government's Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme, he completed his high school years 11 and 12.[5] This allowed him to attend and completed a commerce degree at the University of Melbourne.[6]
After graduating, Cole briefly worked in the Department of Supply, and then in 1952 moved to Canberra to work as a research officer in the Department of the Treasury.[5] He was seconded to the International Monetary Fund in 1957 and worked in Washington, D.C., until 1959, when he returned to the Treasury.[5] He was director of the Bureau of Transport Economics from 1970 to 1972, and then took on various senior roles:[6]
He met his wife Margaret Martin in Canberra and were married in November 1956.[5] They had two children, Kate and Robert.[5]
Cole was knighted in the 1981 New Year Honours.[8]