Noel Tanzer

Noel John Tanzer AC (born 16 November 1931) is a retired senior Australian public servant and policymaker.

Noel Tanzer AC
Secretary of the Department of the Arts and Administrative Services
In office 24 March 1993 – 19 December 1993
Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services
In office 1 March 1989 – 24 March 1993
Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs
In office 18 December 1986 – 1 March 1989
Personal details
Born	Noel John Tanzer 16 November 1931
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Public servant

Life and career

Noel Tanzer was born on 16 November 1931.[1]

Tanzer began his career in the Commonwealth Public Service in 1949, serving for 17 years in Brisbane.[2]

In 1980 and 1981 he was serving as a senior assistant commissioner in the management systems and efficiency division of the Public Service Board.[3][4]

Tanzer was appointed Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs in 1986.[5] Immediately prior to his Veterans' Affairs appointment, he had been a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Social Security.[6]

He moved to the Department of Administrative Services in 1989.[7] His task was to have the department operate in accordance with commercial principles.[8] He also aimed to improve departmental services to customers.[9] He restructured 17 separate departmental units into four programs, and offered redundancy packages to downsize the department,[8] reducing staffing numbers by more than 1000.[10] The new structure Tanzer established saw much of the department run on commercial lines and funded on a trust-account basis.[11]

Tanzer retired from the public service in 1993, his final appointment was as Secretary of the Department of the Arts and Administrative Services.[12] As head of the Department, he was responsible for handling more than $2 billion in revenue.[13]

In 1994, Tanzer was appointed as a consultant to the law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques.[14]

Awards

Tanzer was made a companion of the Order of Australia in 1994.[15]

References

1. CP 691: Noel John TANZER AC, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 28 January 2014
2. Tanzer, Noel (1998). "Interview with Noel Tanzer, Secretary of the Dept. of Administrative Services and Head of the Inquiry into the Tendering for the Demolition of Royal Canberra Hospital" (Interview). Interviewed by John Farquharson.
3. Andrews, Ross (25 October 1980). "PS computer inquiry". The Canberra Times. p. 9.
4. Payne, Stephen (14 June 1981). "'Disastrous' procedure for acquiring computers". The Canberra Times. p. 4.
5. "Major PS appointments announced by Hawke". The Canberra Times. 19 December 1986. p. 3. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
6. "On-line processing for Social Security". The Canberra Times. 13 October 1986. p. 17.
7. Hawke, Robert (27 February 1989). "Untitled" (Press release). Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
8. "Chapter 8: A more commercial approach: 1983 – 1990", Going the extra mile: A history of the Commonwealth Car Service 1910–2010 (PDF), Department of Finance and Deregulation, p. 130, ISBN 978-1-921600-56-2, archived (PDF) from the original on 20 January 2014
9. Burgess, Verona (14 December 1990). "DAS readies itself for a shake-up". The Canberra Times. p. 5.
10. Burgess, Verona (14 December 1993). "Stevens shuffle angers top PS". The Canberra Times. p. 2.
11. Burgess, Verona (27 September 1993). "Tanzer says his likely successors must wait". The Canberra Times. p. 12.
12. Keating, Paul (13 December 1993). "STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON PJ KEATING MP PUBLIC SERVICE APPOINTMENTS" (Press release). Archived from the original on 11 January 2014.
13. Burgess, Verona (18 March 1993). "DAS Secretary confirms decision to leave in July". The Canberra Times. ACT. p. 3.
14. "Tanzer moves from public service to legal service". The Canberra Times. 18 April 1994. p. 13. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
15. "Search Australian Honours: TANZER, Noel John", itsanhonour.gov.au, Australian Government