Caretaker conventions: public sector insights and expectations

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.

Tammie Pribanic was appointed Under Treasurer for the Department of Treasury and Finance in South Australia in December 2024. The first woman to hold this position.

With a career spanning over two decades in the public service, Tammie has demonstrated leadership and expertise in fiscal policy, financial management and policy development.

Tammie has held various roles within the department, including within the South Australian Government Financing Authority, providing advice on diverse commercial and asset management matters and was appointed Executive Director of Budget Analysis and Performance in 2015. She also served as the Chief Operating Officer at the Department for Education before returning to Treasury and Finance as Deputy Under Treasurer in 2022.

Throughout her career, Tammie has been instrumental in driving key financial initiatives and reforms, contributing to across government policy initiatives and advising on the sustainability of South Australia's financial future.

Tammie holds a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Economics from the University of Adelaide.

Appointed on 1 July 2014, Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Erma Ranieri works passionately towards creating a world-leading public sector that serves South Australians well, does what it says it will do, and to which every public servant is proud to belong.

With the role of the public sector being to serve and support South Australia to thrive, Erma leads sector-wide reform to modernise the public sector and continue to build on its value and service to the South Australian community.

Erma has worked for more than 30 years to help organisations optimise productivity and employee wellbeing. She was named a 2014 Telstra Business Woman of the Year as SA Winner of the Telstra Community and Government Award for her role in leading transformational change throughout the public sector.

With a key focus on flexibility, diversity and leadership development to ensure the public sector is positioned as an Employer of Choice, Erma continues to challenge cultural and structural barriers to drive innovative, collaborative and connected services for the community.

Lucinda Byers has more than 25 years of experience as a public sector lawyer and commenced as the Crown Solicitor for South Australia in January 2025.

Prior to that, Lucinda held the role of Chief Legal Officer at the Legal Services Commission of SA since April 2022, where she was a key member of the leadership team with oversight of legal practice and private practitioner panels.

She previously held a variety of roles within the South Australian Attorney-General’s Department, including Special Counsel to the Crown Solicitor, Special Counsel to the Chief Executive, and Solicitor Assisting the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission.

The majority of Lucinda’s legal practice has been within the SA Crown Solicitor’s Office, specialising in constitutional and administrative law and industry regulation, and she has represented the State Attorney-General in constitutional matters in the High Court on numerous occasions as junior counsel or instructing solicitor.

Her early experience included a five-year stint in London as a Legal Officer within Ofcom, the independent communications regulator, following a year in Brussels to complete her Masters in International and Comparative Law.

More recently, Lucinda has supplemented her legal practice as an active member of various statutory and non-profit boards and committees including JusticeNet SA, the Audit & Finance Committee of Cancer Council SA and Clayton Church Homes Inc.

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.