- Damien Walker appointed the Director-General of Premier and Cabinet, and leader of the Queensland Public Service, commencing next month.
- Mr Walker brings more than a decade of executive experience leading Departments across Queensland and South Australia.
- Crisafulli Government to appoint Chris Lamont (NSW Small Business Commissioner) as permanent Director-General for Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business.
Damien Walker, a former Director-General in the Queensland Government, has been appointed the Director-General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.
Mr Walker, currently Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and the Cabinet for the Government of South Australia, will return to Queensland to lead the Queensland public service.
With more than a decade of experience in executive leadership roles in Queensland, Mr Walker led Queensland’s Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and prior to that led tourism, innovation and small business portfolios.
He was also responsible for delivering the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games through the Queensland Government’s Office of the Commonwealth Games.
Mr Chris Lamont has been appointed as Director-General of the Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business.
Mr Lamont comes to Queensland from New South Wales where he is currently the Small Business Commissioner, a role where he represents and advocates on behalf of 850,000 small businesses across the state.
He has also held roles at the City of Melbourne, where he was responsible for capital projects and infrastructure and New South Wales Business Chamber, where he led policy and advocacy.
His experience includes leading critical infrastructure and public policy solutions.
Mr Walker will commence on 23 December 2024 and Mr Lamont starts on 6 January 2025.
Premier David Crisafulli said the appointments were part of delivering a Fresh Start for Queensland.
“Both Damien and Chris bring enormous experience and dynamism to their respective portfolios and the public service will be strengthened by their appointments,” Premier Crisafulli said.
“The appointments of Mr Walker and Mr Lamont emphasise stability and strength of leadership are at the heart of the public service.
“I would like to extend my thanks to David Mackie and Steven Koch for their critical roles in leading the transition of government.
“Mr Mackie will return to his role as Public Sector Commissioner when Mr Walker commences duty after doing an outstanding job as the Acting Director-General of Premier and Cabinet from late October.
“Highly respected for his role in the public service, Mr Koch will return to a Deputy Director-General role, within the Department of Trade, Employment and Training, after Mr Lamont commences.”
