| Sir William Dunk | |
| Office1: | Secretary of the Department of External Affairs |
| Term Start1: | 10 September 1945 |
| Term End1: | 25 March 1947 |
| Birth Name: | William Ernest Dunk |
| Birth Date: | 1897 |
| Death Date: | 1984 |
| Occupation: | Public servant |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Spouse: | Elma Kathleen Evans (m. 1922) |
| Children: | Pat and Peter |
Sir William Ernest Dunk, (1897–1984) was a senior official in the Australian Public Service.
William Dunk was born in 1897.
He joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1914 as a Clerk in the Auditor-General's Office. He rose to hold positions including the Assistant Secretary for War Administration in the Department of the Treasury and Director of Reciprocal Land Lease in the Department of External Affairs.[1]
Between 1945 and 1947 he was Secretary of the Department of External Affairs. In 1947, Dunk was appointed chairman of the Public Service Board, succeeding commissioner Frank Thorpe.[2] Well ahead of time, in October 1959, Dunk advised the Australian Government that he wished to retire in early 1961.[3] He retired officially from the chairmanship on 31 December 1960.[4]
After retirement, he was invited to New Zealand to advise the New Zealand Government on public service matters.[5]
Dunk was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1953 in recognition of his service as Chairman of the Public Service Board. In 1957 he was made a Knight Bachelor.
In 2009, a street in the Canberra suburb of Casey was named Dunk Street in William Dunk's honour.