The Secretary
Dr Ian Watt
Dr Ian Watt AO has been Secretary of the Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance) since January 2002.
Before joining Finance, Dr Watt held the position of Secretary of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.
Dr Watt's other senior Australian Public Service positions include Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Executive Coordinator of the Economic, Industry and Resources Policy Group until March 2001. He was also First Assistant Secretary of Economic Division of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet between March 1994 and November 1996. Prior to that he was Minister (Economic) at the Embassy of Australia in Washington for two-and-a-half years. His early career was with the Department of the Treasury and as an academic at Melbourne's La Trobe University.
Dr Watt graduated from Melbourne University with Honours in Commerce and completed an Economics Masters and PhD at La Trobe University and the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.
Dr Watt is the current chair of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD's) Working Party of Senior Budget Officials.
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