Partner

PwC Australia

Mark Thomson is a Partner with PwC Australia. As a consulting Partner Mark collaborates with Government, Utility and Mining clients to work smarter and grow faster. He consults to build effective organisations, innovate & grow, reduce costs and manage risk & regulation.

Chief Executive

Attorney General’s Department

Caroline began her legal career as the Associate to the Hon. Brian Cox QC and the Hon. Bruce Lander QC.

From 1995, she worked as a prosecutor at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions before taking up a position as the Executive Director of the Legal and Legislative Services Division in the Attorney-General’s Department in 2011.

In 2013, she became the Deputy Chief Executive of the Attorney-General’s Department and in April 2018 was appointed as the Chief Executive.

Co-Founder, States of Change

Over 20 years experience of working on and leading innovation and reform initiatives around the world, the last 13 of which as a senior executive in government and not-for-profit organisations. I am a respected leader in the
global innovation community and over the last ten years, have advised governments in over 20 countries on ways that they can build an innovation culture and improve outcomes for citizens. I am recognised as an innovative
and strategic thinker and I regularly present to and advise national and global audiences on a wide range of issues relating to innovation and reform. I am currently the co-founder and Executive Director of States of Change, a global not-for-profit organisation committed to building the next generation of public innovation. States of Change was spun out of Nesta, one of the world’s pre-eminent innovation institutions, where I spent over six years as Executive Director of Global Innovation Partnerships and Director of Innovation Skills. I previously established The Australian Centre for Social Innovation in Adelaide as its founding CEO and have held several executive roles in the South Australian Government.

Chief Executive
Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Rick Persse was appointed to lead the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in December 2024.

An accomplished public sector leader, Rick joined the department after a successful period from April 2022 as South Australia’s Under Treasurer leading the Department of Treasury and Finance.

Prior to Treasury, Rick was Chief Executive of the Department for Education for 6 years, after leading the Attorney-General’s Department for 4 years.

With expertise in policy and strategy development, transformation, public sector reform and major project delivery, Rick’s knowledge of public administration comes from an expansive career building and leading teams in the Government of South Australia.

Sandy is an experienced public-sector leader, having led government agencies in both Victoria and South Australia.

Sandy was the inaugural Secretary of the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing in Victoria, an agency that supported six Ministers and spanned human services, child protection, family violence, housing and communities’ policy and service delivery.

Throughout the height of the pandemic in 2020 Sandy led the Victoria COVID-19 response that returned the state to COVID-19 zero.

Sandy’s initial role in Victoria was leading higher education, skills and training.

Prior to working for the Victorian government, Sandy was the Chief Executive of the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, where she focussed on a vibrant nature-based tourism strategy for South Australia, connecting people to parks and delivering on the state’s ambitious Climate Change agenda.

And prior to that, Sandy was Deputy Chief Executive of the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet for five years.

She has also served as the Director of the South Australian Office for Women.

In 2012 Sandy was awarded the South Australian Telstra Business Woman of the year for the Community and Public sector category, and went on to win the national title in November 2012.

Sandy has worked in London, primarily as the head of Corporate and Parliamentary Affairs in the UK’s Commission for Racial Equality, and has previously worked in Commonwealth public sector roles in Canberra and Sydney.

Educated at the University of Adelaide, Sandy has degrees in law and the humanities.

She was raised in Mannum, has two children, a dog and a puppy to keep her on her toes.

In August 2022, Sandy returned to the South Australian Government as Deputy Under Treasurer, after working for several years in the Victorian public sector. She is currently the Chief Executive of the Department of Human Services.

Workforce Strategist, Specialising in the Medical Practitioner Workforce

Department for Health and Wellbeing

Katherine is a high-achieving postgraduate qualified HR Management professional with significant experience across a range of industries in the not-for-profit, private and public sector.

Her current workforce interests include: implementation science, attraction and retention, diversity and inclusion, and workplace wellbeing.

In 2016, Katherine was awarded a part scholarship from the Office for Women to complete the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Foundations of Directorship program and she was also elected to the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) SA Divisional Council.

In 2017, Katherine became the Divisional Council representative of the IPAA Strategic Advisory Committee and the following year she was re-elected to the IPAA Divisional Council and became the Company Secretary of the IPAA Executive Governance Committee.

From 2014-2018, she also worked in a voluntary capacity as a Jobs4Youth SA Ambassador & Mentor with the Office for the Public Sector to provide group mentoring to graduates.

Katherine is currently a mentor in the Business Career Mentor Program (BCMP) with the University of South Australia as well as the Peers Offering Peers Support (POPS) Program with the Department for Health and Wellbeing.