Defacto Aus Govt CIO leaves after six months

The senior government bureaucrat who replaced Glenn Archer at the Department of Finance but eschewed his Government CIO mantle has followed her predecessor out the door after just six months in the role.

As first assistant secretary heading Finance’s efficiency, assurance and digital government branch, Rosemary Deininger took over the function formerly known as AGIMO in May following the sudden departure of ex-Australian Government CIO Glenn Archer.

Her appointment coincided with a Finance restructure that saw non-tech functions moved into the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) division, and the AGIMO title retired.

Deininger will work her last day at the Department of Finance on Friday 31 October, before moving on to a new role at the Department of Human Services.

“Ms Deininger will be taking up a senior position at the Department of Human Services which will draw on and expand her public sector policy experience,” a Finance spokesperson said.

The department has denied that a period of upheaval between Archer’s departure, the dissolution of AGIMO and now Deininger’s resignation has impacted on the Government’s IT agenda.

One of Deininger’s key deputies, Marc Vickers, is also currently working outside of the Finance office, on secondment to the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Finance has started its hunt for a replacement to Deininger's position, and is offering between $201,063 and $236,385 per annum for suitably qualified candidates.

Applications are open until 12 November, but under the current public service hiring freeze, only existing Commonwealth employees are eligible.

The whole-of-government tech strategy team is facing a busy year’s end, with the clock now ticking to get a fresh Coalition-authored IT strategy out before the end of the year, in addition to completing a whole-of-government audit of IT spending.

The first assistant secretary role will be filled in the interim by Simone Pensko while Finance looks for a permanent replacement.