Associate Secretary

Tony Cook

Schools and Youth

Tony Cook was appointed to the role of Associate Secretary, Schools and Youth in October 2011. Prior to this he was Deputy Secretary, Government and Corporate with the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Tony has held a number of senior executive education positions including Deputy Secretary, Office for Children and Portfolio Coordination, Deputy Secretary, Office for Planning, Strategy and Coordination and General Manager, Student Learning within the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Tony began his education career with Education Queensland.

In 2010, Tony was seconded to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, where he was Deputy Secretary and Director of the Office of Early Childhood Education and Child Care.

Tony is a registered primary school teacher with a major in early childhood education. He has been a deputy principal and has taught in schools and preschools in Queensland and the United Kingdom.

Deputy Secretaries

John Kovacic

Workplace Relations and Economic Strategy

John Kovacic PSM is responsible for providing policy and legal advice on workplace relations, occupational health and safety and workers compensation matters; implementing workplace relations reforms in the public and private sectors; administering the employee entitlements safety net scheme – GEERS; intervening in significant tribunal and court cases and managing Australia’s relationship with the International Labour Organisation.

John commenced his career in 1978 as a graduate clerk with the Department of Productivity. Pursuing his lifelong interest in industrial relations, John joined the then Department of Industrial Relations in 1981. He remained in various iterations of that department since then, working in a range of business and corporate areas in both a national and state office context.

In 2011 he was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service in leading the development and implementation of new workplace relations laws and policies and award modernisation.

Michael Manthorpe

Corporate and Network

Michael Manthorpe PSM was appointed Deputy Secretary in April 2009.  Since then he has been the Deputy Secretary for the Office of Early Childhood Education and Childcare (OECECC), and Building the Education Revolution (BER).  He moved to his current position in Corporate and Network in March 2011.

Michael is a career public servant having served for 23 years in the department's workplace relations, employment, workforce participation and strategic policy areas.  In recent years he has been responsible for functions relating to the contract management, purchasing and policy settings for employment services in Australia; he was responsible for the department's relationship with Centrelink; managed the department's interests in labour market analysis, skilled migration, and engagement with industry on labour market and employment issues;  and he was the inaugural Group Manager of the department's Strategic Policy function. 

Michael was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2010 for his work for the Australian Government in relation to the insolvency of the ABC Learning Centres.

Michael grew up in Queensland and studied journalism and history at the University of Queensland.

Sandra Parker

Employment

Sandra Parker began her public service career in the ACT education and training sector in 1994 and moved to the Commonwealth in 1998.  During that period, she spent a year working as a senior project officer with the Australian National Training Authority and a further year with an Industry Training Council. 

Since joining the Commonwealth, she has held various policy and program positions in vocational education and training, social policy and workplace relations.   

Sandra was head of the Office of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council from 2005-2008.

Jennifer Taylor

OECECC

Jennifer Taylor has been appointed as Deputy Secretary Office of Early Childhood Education and Child Care. She was previously the Group Manager of the Tertiary Frameworks Group at DEEWR.

From 2006 to 2009 Jennifer was the Chief Executive of the statutory agency, the Australian Fair Pay Commission Secretariat, located in Melbourne. The Secretariat provided support to the Commission through research and analysis, managing the extensive consultation and submission processes and monitoring and evaluating the impact of the Commission’s decisions.

Jennifer has also held the role of Group Manager, Labour Market Strategies Group in DEWR, with responsibility for economic and labour market analysis, and worked in a number of senior positions in the South Australian Government.