John Taylor (public servant)

John Taylor AO
Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs
In office 6 May 1981 – 29 March 1984
Commonwealth Auditor-General
In office 1988 – 13 January 1995
Personal details
Born	John Casey Taylor 2 December 1930 Melbourne
Died	14 May 2011 (aged 80) Canberra
Nationality	Australian
Spouse(s)	Valerie Booth (m. 1959–2011; his death)
Alma mater	University of Melbourne Australian National University
Occupation	Public servant

John Casey Taylor AO (2 December 1930 – 14 May 2011) was a senior Australian public servant. He was Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs from 1981 to 1984.

Life and career

John Taylor was born on 2 December 1930 in Melbourne.^[1] He graduated from University of Melbourne with a degree in commerce.^[2]

Taylor joined the Australian Public Service in 1952 as a clerk in the Victorian branch of the Postmaster-General's Department.^[3]

Between 1974 and 1981, Taylor was a Commissioner on the Public Service Board.^[4]

In 1981 he was appointed Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.^[5] According to Charles Perkins, who succeeded him as Secretary in the department, his departure in 1984 was against his wishes.^[6] He was made a special adviser to the Department until June 1984, when he was appointed Australia's Consul-General in New York.^[7]

Between 1988 and 1995 he was Commonwealth Auditor-General.^[8] As Auditor-General, Taylor said he saw his main achievements as providing a much more efficient and focused service to the Australian Parliament and people, and keeping up with (if not getting ahead of) contemporary professional standards.^[9]

Taylor died on 14 May 2011.^[10]

Awards

In 1990, Taylor was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his public service.^[11]

References

1. "PS worker rose to be auditor". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. 16 June 2011. p. 12.
2. Andrews, Ross (7 May 1981). "New heads to two departments named". The Canberra Times. p. 1.
3. Hawke, Robert (22 April 1988). "Unknown" (Press release). Archived from the original on 10 May 2014.
4. "Taylor is new head auditor". The Canberra Times. 23 April 1988. p. 7.
5. CA 1476: Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 10 May 2014
6. Perkins, Charles (7 May 1998), Charles Perkins: Full interview transcript
7. "Diplomatic post". The Canberra Times. 16 June 1984. p. 3.
8. History of the ANAO, Australian National Audit Office, 2014, archived from the original on 28 March 2014
9. Henderson, Ian (7 January 1995). "Auditor quits with a blast". The Canberra Times. p. 1.
10. Gray, Gary (23 August 2011), 110th Anniversary of the Australian National Audit Office, archived from the original on 10 May 2014
11. "Search Australian Honours: TAYLOR, John Casey", itsanhonour.gov.au, Australian Government, retrieved 10 May 2014

Further reading

• Brough, Jodie (7 January 1995). "A whimsical postscript as public watchdog takes his leave". The Canberra Times. p. 10.