Senior staffing moves rock Education Department

A mass exodus of senior staff at the Queensland Department of Education has raised eyebrows, with six major positions vacated.

An exodus in the upper ranks of the Department of Education has raised eyebrows within the sector, with a number of senior bureaucrats departing in the past few months.

The Courier-Mail can reveal four of the department’s seven deputy directors-general have left since late last year, in what insiders have described as a “deliberate shake-up”.

The turnover of senior bureaucrats comes as the department also gained a new director-general, Michael De’Ath, who commenced in December.

Mr De’Ath, a former strategic adviser with KPMG and director-general at ACT Health, took over from Tony Cook, who had held the position since 2018.

Michael De’Ath commenced as director-general of the Department of Education in December.

One of Mr De’Ath’s “specialties”, as shared on his LinkedIn profile, was “leading cultural change in complex organisations”.

The most recent departure was former deputy director-general (state schools) Peter Kelly.

Mr Kelly had held the role since November 2018 and previously held positions as a regional director and executive principal.

Also no longer with the department were former deputy directors-general Shannon Cook (people and corporate services), Annette Whitehead (policy, performance and planning), and Craig Allen (Office of Industrial Relations).

Former director-general of the Department of Education Tony Cook with Education Minister Grace Grace during an Estimates hearing

The Courier-Mail understands Mr Allen, who had held a number of senior government positions, retired shortly after the appointment of Mr De’Ath.

Mr Allen had also been acting director-general for several months after Mr Cook left the position in September, 2021.

The departures have seen former deputy director-general (early childhood and education improvement) Sharon Schimming moved into the position of acting deputy director-general (state schools), while former deputy director-general (infrastructure services) Duncan Anson was now acting deputy director-general (people and corporate services).

The shake-up means six of the seven key deputy director-general roles were now vacant, with bureaucrats holding “acting” positions.

Department insiders have claimed the close timing of the departures surprised a number of longstanding staff.

A department of education spokesman said the positions had become vacant between “late last year and more recently”.

The spokesman also confirmed Mr Kelly, Mr Cook, Ms Whitehead and Mr Allen had “formally separated from the department”.

“The department will be making no public comment around the specific reasons for individuals leaving the employ of the department, to respect their privacy,” he said.

“As a result of these staff movements, a number of these vacancies have been filled in a temporary capacity while formal advertising and recruitment processes are undertaken.”

Opposition education spokesman Christian Rowan called on Education Minister Grace Grace to address the “workplace issues that have been exposed”.

“With multiple deputy directors-general appointed only in acting capacities, it seems that the upper senior administration of the Department of Education is in complete chaos,” he said.

“There are multiple senior public servants from the Department of Education who are deeply concerned about issues relating to nepotism, maladministration, fraud, corruption and safety risks to students.”

Originally published as Senior staffing moves rock Education Department