Alan Woods (public servant)

Alan John Woods AC (30 March 1930 – 13 January 1990) was a senior Australian public servant.

Alan Woods AC
Secretary of the Department of Defence
In office 14 November 1986 – 31 July 1988
Secretary of the Department of Resources and Energy
In office 11 March 1983 – 1986
Secretary of the Department of National Development and Energy
In office 8 December 1979 – 11 March 1983
Secretary of the Department of National Development
In office 20 December 1977 – 8 December 1979
Personal details
Born	Alan John Woods 30 March 1930 Woonona, New South Wales
Died	13 January 1990 (aged 59) Canberra
Cause of death	Cancer
Resting place	Gungahlin Cemetery
Nationality	Australian
Spouse(s)	Anne Therese Flynn
Children	4 daughters and 3 sons
Occupation	Public servant

Life and career

Woods was born in Woonona, New South Wales on 30 March 1930 to parents Oswald and Gladys May Woods.[1] After attending St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill on a scholarship,[2] he obtained a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney in 1955 while working as an executive trainee for Dunlop Rubber Australia Ltd.[1]

Woods began his Commonwealth Public Sector career at the Commonwealth Public Service Board in Sydney in 1955.[1] He moved to Canberra in 1957, taking a research officer post in the Department of Territories.[1]

In December 1977, Woods was appointed Secretary of the Department of National Development (later abolished and replaced by the Department of National Development and Energy, and then the Department of Resources and Energy).[3][4][5]

Woods was appointed Secretary of the Department of Defence in 1986,[6] but was replaced in a reshuffle of department heads in mid-1988.[1]

Awards and recognition

Woods was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 1985 Australia Day Honours for "public service, particularly as Secretary to the Department of Resources and Energy".[7] In the 1989 Australia Day Honours he was promoted to Companion of the Order of Australia "for public service, particularly as Secretary to the Department of Defence".[8]

Death

Woods became ill with cancer in the later part of 1989. He died of the disease on 13 January 1990 in Canberra.[2]

Notes

1. Nethercote 2012.
2. Waterford, Jack (15 January 1990). "Obituary: Alan John Woods, AO: A new age manager with a sense of tradition". The Canberra Times. p. 2.
3. CA 3496: Department of Resources and Energy, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 13 January 2014
4. CA 2979: Department of National Development and Energy, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 13 January 2014
5. CA 2475: Department of National Development [II], Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 13 January 2014
6. "Alan Woods dies at 59". The Canberra Times. 15 January 1990. p. 1.
7. "Alan John Woods". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
8. "Alan John Woods, AO". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 1 November 2019.

References and further reading

• Nethercote, J.R. (2012), Woods, Alan John (1930–1990), archived from the original on 6 November 2013
• Search Australian Honours: WOODS, Alan John, Australian Government, archived from the original on 23 March 2014