Gig Guide: ASD chief set to step down


Brandon How
Reporter

Australian Signals Directorate chief Rachel Noble is set to stand down after almost five years in the role, with her successor expected to be announced by the federal government in the coming days.

Abigail Bradshaw, the current head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), is reportedly the front-runner to replace Ms Noble, who also ascended to ASD from the ACSC in early 2020.

Chief of Defence intelligence Lieutenant General Gavan Reynolds is also reportedly in the running. The office of Defence minister Richard Marles declined to comment.

Ms Bradshaw will enter the role as the agency, which sits within the Defence portfolio, adds an additional 1,900 staff by 2029 as part of the $10 billion REDSPICE initiative.

Australian Signals Directorate director-general Rachel Noble. Image: Twitter

Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) president and CIO Ian Hill, who oversaw business development, IT and portfolio management, is now founder and chief executive of Enthoosa AI. He left SQC earlier this week.

The founding chief executive of online learning startup Go1 Andrew Barnes has stepped down after almost 10 years. Mr Barnes, who will remain a director, has transferred leadership to co-founder Chris Eigeland.

The incoming chief operating officer of the Canberra Cyber Hub is Vicki-Anne Gardiner, who has been Canberra manager for the Australian Computer Society since September 2020. She begins her new role on September 2.

The new chief executive of Landgate, Western Australia’s land authority, is its current general manager for location services Trish Scully. Ms Scully, who begins her five-year term on September 2, recently secured a 10-year WA government funding commitment for Landgate to deliver Spatial WA, a digital twin for the state.

As previously reported, former Labor minister for defence science and personnel Warren Snowdon is leading the statutory review of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund. Mr Snowdon is supported by Australian National University vice president for First Nations Professor Peter Yu and ESG consultant and prolific board director Dr Lisa Caffery.

A new Industrial Decarbonisation and Green Metals Advisory Panel has also been appointed to the end of 2024. The seven-member group consists of industry, unions, and consultants.

WA chief scientist Peter Klinken will retire as the chair of Lotterywest and Healthway, both large funders of health and medical research, after six years in the role. Current board member Karen Brown will fill the role at the start of September.

Former Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan has been made chair of renewable energy project developer Frontier Energy. Mr McGowan is also an advisor at BHP, Mineral Resources, APM Healthcare and former Liberal Treasurer Joe Hockey’s investment and advisory firm Bondi Partners.

At the Australian Energy Council, Louisa Kinnear has been appointed as chief executive. Ms Kinnear moves from Jacana Energy where she has spent the last four years as chief executive.

Electric aviation charging company Electro.Aero has appointed Richard Watson as chief commercial officer. Mr Watson has been charger product manager since October 2019.

The joint winners of the Western Australian Premier’s Science Awards 2024 are Curtin University Professor Sharon Parker and University of Western Australia Professor Markus Schlaich.

Professor Parker led a landmark study into workplace mental health and workplace culture in the state’s mining industry while Professor Schlaich’s translational clinical research led to regulatory approval for several novel blood pressure lowering therapies.

Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.

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