Public Sector Professional of the Year

Awarded to a public sector professional who has made a difference to the public sector through demonstrating best practice and fostering other public sector professionals.

Focus
Significant personal contribution to service delivery and to others over recent years.

Open to

Individuals only.
Aged over 35 years.
Currently working in the public sector in Queensland, or having worked in the sector during the preceding financial year.

Nominated by
Self or third party.

Criteria
Nominees must show how they have made a difference as a public
sector professional by demonstrating:

C1 Excellence in public administration and management over recent years.
C2 Active use of best practice in their role(s).
C3 Demonstrated active support and fostering of other public sector professionals.
C4 Improved service delivery to their local community or to regional Queensland.

2010 JOINT WINNER of Public Sector Professional of the Year

Deanie Carbon, from the Logan City Council

After local government amalgamations, Deanie Carbon was appointed to Logan City Council to establish its first dedicated Community Engagement Program. The aim was to find a way to stay in touch with Council's 1500 staff and 270,000 residents. Since then, the senior officer has made significant progress toward introducing a uniform community engagement approach to public participation by introducing the IAP2 model, undertaking training of 70 staff across Council, establishing guidelines and survey tools, and participating in a regional community engagement network. These efforts have received positive feedback from the LGAQ, Queensland Department of Infrastructure and Planning and state/local media.

Council's community engagement has grown from only a handful of community consultation projects in 1988 to more than 45 last year. Deanie Carbon has shared her learnings with councils throughout Queensland through the LGAQ and IAP2, and at the invitation of two councils in Perth. She was appointed to the LGAQ Steering Committee on community engagement. All this at a time when the new Local Government Act requires Councils to provide “meaningful engagement”.

She was Communications Manager at Beaudesert Shire Council, press gallery journalist for The Australian, and The Courier Mail. At 45, she has served 11 years in local government. She is a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, and works for disadvantaged women and children in her community through Quota International. She writes the Australia-New Zealand publication for this women's service club.

2010 JOINT WINNER of Public Sector Professional of the Year

Mr John Rossiter, from the Department of Public Works

Leonard “John” Rossiter has dedicated 15 of the 34 years of his public service career to leading the Department of Public Works’ (DPW) response to natural disasters. John has been at the forefront of the whole-of-government response to almost every disaster during this period; including cyclones, floods, environmental disasters and pandemics. During these high tempo and pressure events, John consistently excelled in demonstrating effective and timely public administration whilst retaining a calm and friendly demeanour. Recent examples of the types of disasters typical of John’s involvement include the 2010 West Queensland Floods and Cyclone Ului recovery operations.

Aside from multiple whole-of-government publications on evacuation and shelter during cyclones and logistics arrangements, John has led arrangements in logistics, accommodation and financial management which establish best practice benchmarks and guidelines to other agencies. These documents are used to assist agencies to respond to and prepare for a disaster.

Consistently, John’s initiatives and innovative thinking significantly reduced Government expenditure on disaster management response and concurrently increased quality and response times. His dedication to serving the citizens of Queensland is clearly demonstrated through his continuous availability; even whilst he was recovering from a serious illness.

John’s warm demeanour and willingness to provide support ensures many fellow disaster management professionals from Queensland agencies actively seek his counsel. John demonstrates active support and fosters other public sector professionals on a daily basis. As the manager of the Disaster Preparedness Group, John leads a cohesive team which actively shapes the DPW response to disasters and Business Continuity Management.

2009 WINNER of Public Sector Professional of the Year

Guillermo “Bill” Capati, From Gold Coast Water

There can be few fields more challenging to work in than water supply strategy in South-east Queensland. Bill Capati has been a change agent and champion in this environment working in a community coalition with teams and individuals to achieve results that have been acknowledged both nationally and internationally for their excellence.

While achieving best practice in the projects under his leadership Bill has shown great skill and generosity working with his own team and a variety of stakeholders. Working productively with the Council of Mayors, which represents ten regions, is an achievement in itself!

Bill has demonstrated excellence in public administration and management in his work with some of the components of community change which is typically very challenging for government and has been a key contributor to water security on the Gold Coast as well as a great contributor to sustainability generally.

2009 HIGHLY COMMENDED of Public Sector Professional of the Year

Monica James, From Quilpie Shire Council

Awarded a Highly Commended, Monica James exemplifies the public service ideal of ‘service to the community’. She is committed to her local community and engages fully in community activities with its best interests in mind. Monica embodies many of the qualities that the public service is about in terms of service delivery and commitment to her local community, as well as achieving very creditable outcomes in a highly constrained resource environment.

Monica is involved in a wide diversity of activities; from the Pony Club and Seniors’ Week to the laying of the bitumen at the local airport for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Her role in the success of the local communities’ tourism and marketing strategies should also be acknowledged.