IPAA National President

Andrew Metcalfe AO FIPAA is the National President of IPAA. He recently retired as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and as Australia’s Director of Biosecurity.

In all, Andrew was a Commonwealth departmental secretary for 12 years, heading three departments. He was appointed or reappointed as a secretary by five different prime ministers, and directly worked with 15 portfolio ministers.

Andrew was born and grew up in Toowoomba, Queensland; and studied at the Toowoomba Grammar School and the University of Queensland (BA 1980, LLB 1985).  He has also undertaken business administration studies at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

Andrew joined the Australian Public Service as an administrative trainee in 1980, and has held numerous senior roles in the Departments of Immigration, and the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as the chief of staff to a cabinet minister. He was the Secretary (CEO) of the Department of Immigration from 2005 to 2012, and Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in 2013. Between 2014 and January 2020 Andrew was a senior partner in EY (Ernst and Young), the global professional services firm. He was the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment from February 2020 until June 2022, and of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry from July 2022 until his retirement in August 2023.

Andrew was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2012. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. In 2010 he was named as the `Federal Government Leader of the Year’ by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.