Australian Public Service - Organisational Structure

Organisational Structure

The head of an Australian Government Department is the Secretary - like a CEO in the private sector. Secretaries are the pivotal advisors to Ministers on government policy, and lead the executive of their Departments.

• Deputy Secretaries (Dep Secs) are also part of Departmental executives. Deputy Secretaries hold the Public Service level of Senior Executive Service (SES) Band 3. A Department typically has between four and six Deputy Secretaries.
• Deputy Secretaries directly supervise First Assistant Secretaries (FAS's) (SES Band 2), each of whom oversees a Division of a Department.
• Assistant Secretaries (AS's) (SES Band 1) manage Branches of Divisions.
• Sections of Branches are headed by Directors (APS Executive Level 2), with the assistance of Assistant Directors (APS Executive Level 1).
• Directors manage a group of departmental officers (levels APS 1 (being the lowest) to APS 6).