Professor Peter Shergold AC is an esteemed academic and former Australian public servant. Shergold is the former Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as such was the nation’s most senior public servant and a key adviser to the Prime Minister of Australia for many years.
Professor Shergold received a B.A. (First Class) in Politics and American Studies from the University of Hull; an M.A. in History at the University of Illinois; and a PhD in Economics from London School of Economics.
In 1972 he took up a lectureship at the University of New South Wales. In 1985 he became Head of the Department of Economic History at the University. He has taught at the University of Illinois, Southampton University, London School of Economics and Pennsylvania State University and has twice been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship.
Professor Shergold served in the Australian Public Service for two decades. In 1987 he established the Office of Multicultural Affairs. From 1991 he headed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). At the end of his term in July 1994, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Comcare. He was the Public Service Commissioner from September 1995 to February 1998. From then until January 2002 he served as Secretary of the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business.
For five years from February 2003, Professor Shergold was Australia’s most senior public administrator, serving as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Professor Shergold is actively involved in the non-profit sector and is Chair of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. He was made a Member in the Order of Australia (AM) for public service on Australia Day 1996. In 2007, he was elevated to Australia’s highest award, the Companion in the Order of Australia (AC).