Current senior Australian Defence Organisation personnel

This page provides at one time provided access to information about current senior Australian Defence Organisation personnel, but is currently out-of-date.^[1]

The Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) consists of both the uniformed military, known as the Australian Defence Force (ADF), and the civilian Department of Defence, which includes a number of civilian support organisations. Within the "civilian" organisations, there are designated uniformed positions; within the uniformed organisations, civilians are not unusual, particularly in strategic, policy, personnel, finance, acquisition and intelligence focussed areas.

Nominally, the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) heads the ADF, and the Secretary (of the Department of Defence) heads the civilian organisations, but in fact, they jointly manage the Australian Defence Organisation under a "diarchy", and both report directly to the Minister for Defence. The ADO diarchy is a governance structure unique in the Australian Commonwealth Public Service.

Like most modern militaries, Australia has the possibility of five-star officers, but these are not active ranks, and are usually reserved for special circumstances.^[2] The highest active rank in the Australian Defence Force is reserved for the CDF. This is a four-star rank and the CDF is the only Australian officer at that level. As a result of the diarchy, the Secretary of the Department of Defence is of an equivalent level.

As stated above, this page provides access to information about current senior ADO Leaders. This includes the parliamentarians, and those (both civilian and military) at the equivalent four-, three-, and, where useful, two- and one-star levels. About half of the raw data appears on the Australian Government "Defence leaders: high profile senior personnel" page <http://www.defence.gov.au/leaders.cfm>. Rather than being merely a copy of that page, this page adds value by allowing the reader to organise (sort) the data by a number of criteria, and provides cross-references to people, positions, ranks, organisations, photographs and biographies.

Leadership levels

Parliamentary

Under the current Coalition Turnbull Government, there are four political positions associated with the Defence portfolio, namely the:

• Minister for Defence;
• Minister for Defence Materiel and Science;
• Assistant Minister for Defence; and the
• Minister for Veterans' Affairs who is also the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC.

Five-star

In Australian circumstances, the five-star level is not an active rank; however, HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, ceremonially holds the ranks of Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, and Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force.

Four-star

At present there are two positions at the four-star level: the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF)^[3] and the Secretary of the Department of Defence (SECDEF). The SECDEF is a civilian position which is of equal status to the military's four-star ranks.

Three-star

People at the three-star (or equivalent) level are:

• The Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF)^[3]
• Chiefs of the branches of the armed services:
  • Chief of Navy (CN)^[3]
  • Chief of Army (CA)^[3]
  • Chief of Air Force (CAF)^[3]
• The Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS)
• Heads or Chiefs of the various support organisations:
  • Capability: Chief Capability Development Group (CCDG)
  • Intelligence: Deputy Secretary (DEPSEC)^[4] Intelligence
  • Finance: Chief Finance Officer (CFO)
  • Strategy: DEPSEC Strategy
  • Science & Technology: Chief Defence Scientist (CDS), (Head of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO))
  • Capability Acquistion and Sustainment: DEPSEC Capability Acquistion and Sustainment
  • Information: Chief Information Officer (CIO)
  • Personnel: DEPSEC Defence People
  • Estate and Infrastructure: DEPSEC Estate and Infrastructure

Two-star

People at the two-star (or equivalent) level are:

• Capability Development
  • First Assistant Secretary (FAS),^[5] Capability Investment and Resources
  • Head, Capability Systems (HCS)
• Finance
• Information
• Intelligence and Security
  • Director, Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO)
  • Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO)
  • Defence Signals Directorate (DSD)
  • Defence Security Authority (DSA)
  • Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Branch (ISR)
  • Business Management - Intelligence Branch (BM-I)
• Operations
  • Commander, Border Protection
  • Commander, Joint Logistics (CJLOG)^[6]
• People Strategies and Policy
  • Head, Defence Personnel Executive (HDPE)
  • FAS, Personnel
• Reform and Governance
  • Deputy Head, Strategic Reform and Governance
• Strategy and Coordination
  • Head, Strategic Policy
  • FAS, International Policy
  • FAS, Ministerial Support and Public Affairs
• Support
  • Head, Defence Health
  • Head, Personnel Services
  • Head, National Operations
  • Head, Defence Legal
  • Head, Infrastructure
  • Chief Operating Officer (COO)
• Navy
  • Deputy Chief of Navy (Australia) (DCN)
  • Commander Australian Fleet (COMAUSTFLT)
  • Head Navy Personnel and Reputation (HNPAR)
• Army
  • Deputy Chief of Army (DCA)
  • Commander Forces Command (CFC)
  • Commander of Australian Forces in Middle East Area of Operations
  • Adviser to the Vice Chief of the Defence Force on Joint Warfighting Lessons and Concepts.
  • Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
  • Commander, 1st Division
  • Commander, 2nd Division
• Air Force
  • Deputy Chief of Air Force (DCAF)
  • Air Commander Australia (ACAUST)
• Reserves:
  • Assistant Chief of the Defence Force (Reserves) and Head Reserve and Employer Support Division
• Special Counsel to CEO DMO^[7]
• DMO Systems:^[7]
  • Head, Aerospace Systems Division
  • Head, Electronic and Weapon Systems Division
  • Head, Maritime Systems Division
  • Head, Helicopter Systems Division
  • Head, Land Systems Division
  • Head, Explosive Ordnance Division
• DMO Programs:^[7]
  • Program Manager - AEWC
  • Program Manager - NACC
  • Head, Industry Division
• DMO Corporate:^[7]
  • General Counsel
  • Chief Finance Officer - DMO
  • Head, Human Resources and Corporate Services
• Other
  • Judge Advocate General (JAG)^[3][8]
  • Inspector-General ADF^[3][9]
  • Inspector-General^[10]

to be checked

• • Reform and Governance: DEPSEC Strategic Reform and Governance
  • Support: DEPSEC Defence Support
• Senior Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) Leaders:^[7]
  • CEO of the DMO^[11]
  • General Manager Systems
  • General Manager Programs
  • General Manager Corporate

One-star

People at the one-star (or equivalent) level are:

• Srategy, Coordination and Governance
  • Director-General Public Affairs

Sortable table of current senior leaders in the Australian Defence Organisation

Nearly all of the people in this table are on fixed term contracts. Extensions of appointments are very rare with the exception of political and constitutional appointments.^[12]

Legend
Abbreviation	Organisation
CASG	Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group
CDF	Chief of the Defence Force
CDG	Capability Development Group
CFO	Chief Finance Officer Group
CIOG	Chief Information Officer Group
DEIG	Defence Estate and Infrastructure Group
DoD	Department of Defence
DPG	Defence People Group
DSTG	Defence Science and Technology Group
I&SG	Defence Intelligence and Security Group
JOC	Joint Operations Command
S	Strategy Executive
VCDF	Vice Chief of the Defence Force

Leaders at Levels 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

See also

• Senior Australian Defence Organisation Positions

References

External links

• Defence leaders: high profile senior personnel