Home Affairs' chief digital officer Radi Kovacevic is leaving the agency to take up the vacant chief information and digital officer role at Austrade.
iTnews can reveal that Austrade has poached Kovacevic to fill the vacant role, ending a five-month search.
Kovacevic's start date at Austrade is scheduled for later this month, an Austrade spokesperson told iTnews.
“Austrade has appointed Radi Kovacevic as chief information and digital officer, with a commencement date of April 20," the spokesperson said.
Kovacevic’s career has been exclusively in public service positions, including stints at the former Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, the Digital Transformation Agency and a three-year stretch as chief information officer at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Most recently, he was at Home Affairs where he spent seven of the last eight years as its chief information officer.
His move from Home Affairs coincides with a structural change to its technology operations, with 'technology, data and AI' responsibilities split out from being under the chief operating officer, and a new deputy secretary to be appointed as overarching leader.
The deputy secretary role remains vacant, according to Home Affairs' most recent org chart.
Kovacevic was a finalist in the federal government technology leader of the year category in the 2024 iTnews Benchmark Awards.
A Home Affairs spokesperson was contacted by iTnews for comment on Kovacevic's departure, but could not respond by the time of publication.
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