australia | Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman appointed

Mr Iain Anderson was recently appointed as the 11th Commonwealth and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Ombudsman. Mr Anderson’s appointment is for a period of 5 years and commenced on 1 August 2022.

Mr Anderson is a highly experienced public servant with 32 years of service – 25 of those in Senior Executive Service positions, working across agencies including the Australian Government Solicitor, the Australian Customs Service, the Australian Taxation Office and most recently the Attorney General’s Department (AGD). Mr Anderson holds a Bachelor of Economics (1987) and a Bachelor of Laws (1990) from the University of Sydney.

Mr Anderson has a wealth of experience as a senior public servant having developed and implemented transformational change across a wide range of legal and social policy areas, including the Commonwealth civil justice and criminal justice systems, family law, native title, Royal Commissions and Australia's territories in his various roles within AGD. He acted as Secretary of AGD and was also previously AGD’s Chief Operating Officer. Iain is accomplished in representational roles, having appeared numerous times before parliamentary committees, represented Australia at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Affairs, and led Australia's delegation to the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF).

After acting in the role for 12-months, Ms Penny McKay has returned to her substantive position as the Office’s Deputy Ombudsman.

Source: Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Australia