Alan Carmody

Sir Alan Thomas Carmody CBE (8 September 1920 – 12 April 1978) was an Australian public servant and government official, who was knighted for his contributions.

Sir Alan Carmody CBE
Secretary of the Department of Customs and Excise
In office 12 May 1966 – 27 March 1975
Secretary of the Department of Police and Customs
In office 27 March 1975 – 12 October 1975
Secretary of the Department of Business and Consumer Affairs
In office 12 October 1975 – 11 August 1976
Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
In office 1 October 1976 – 12 April 1978
Preceded by	John Menadue
Succeeded by	Sir Geoffrey Yeend
Personal details
Born	Alan Thomas Carmody 8 September 1920 Malvern, Victoria
Died	12 April 1978 (aged 57) Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Nationality	Australian
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Mary Brennan
Children	3 sons, 2 daughters
Alma mater	Canberra University College; University of Melbourne
Occupation	Public servant
[1][2][3]

Background and early career

Carmody was born at Malvern, a suburb of Melbourne, in Victoria. His father, Thomas Carmody, worked as a telephone mechanic for the Postmaster-General's Department and was later awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and Bar for bravery in World War I. Alan Carmody attended St Patrick's College, Goulburn, New South Wales. Aged 16, he joined the Commonwealth Public Service on 18 March 1937 as a clerk for the Department of Trade and Customs in Canberra.[1][2]

Carmody enlisted in 1940 in the Citizen Air Force of the Royal Australian Air Force. He was commissioned in February 1943, serving as a radar officer and was demobbed in 1945. He studied at the Canberra University College and graduated from the University of Melbourne with degrees in Arts (1946), Commerce (1947) and a Masters of Commerce (1950).[2]

Public service career

During various stages of Carmody's career, he worked within the Department of Trade and Customs; the Tariff Board; the Department of Trade where he was Deputy-Secretary; the Department of Customs and Excise as Comptroller-General; the Department of Customs and Excise (later Department of Police and Customs) as Head; the Department of Business and Consumer Affairs as Secretary and Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.[4][2][3]

In 1975, Carmody pushed for the establishment of an agency to be known as the Australia Police, which he would have headed initially, formed by combining the Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Commonwealth police forces, roughly modelled on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The force would have dealt with smuggling and white-collar crime.[1][2] The project never came to pass for political reasons.

Awards and honours

In 1964, Carmody was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire,[5] that was upgraded to a Companion of the Order in 1971.[6] In 1977, Carmody was appointed a Knight Bachelor in recognition of service to the public service.[7]

In 2008, a street in the Canberra suburb of Casey was named Carmody Street in Alan Carmody's honour.[8]

Personal

A practising Catholic, Carmody married Elizabeth Mary Brennan in St Patrick's Catholic Church, Adelaide, on 25 October 1944. Together they had five children. Carmody died suddenly from coronary vascular disease on 12 April 1978, aged 57, at his Canberra home, while still serving as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. After a service at St Christopher's Cathedral,[9] he was interred in Canberra. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and three sons.[2]

References

1. "Obituary: Sir Alan Carmody: a controversial initiator of government activity". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 13 April 1978. p. 2. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
2. Hyslop, Robert (1993). "Carmody, Sir Alan Thomas (1920–1978)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013.
3. "Sir Alan Carmody: at the top of the bureaucracy". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 April 1978. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
4. "Malcolm Fraser: Key people". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
5. "CARMODY, Alan Thomas: The Order of the British Empire - Officer (Civil)". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 13 June 1964. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
6. "CARMODY, Alan Thomas: The Order of the British Empire - Commander (Civil)". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 1 January 1971. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
7. "CARMODY, Alan Thomas: Knight Bachelor". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 31 December 1977. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
8. Carmody Street, ACT Government Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate, archived from the original on 27 February 2014
9. "Death of Sir Alan Carmody". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 13 April 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 4 November 2013.

Further reading

• Macklin, Robert (13 April 2001). "Capital Times with Robert Macklin". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 19 August 2008. LOTS of family reunions in Canberra this weekend - but none more enthusiastic than the Carmodys whose ancestor James arrived from County Clare aged 20 in 1851. Among his descendants was Sir Alan Carmody, pictured, famous Secretary of Customs, rising to the head of Prime Minister & Cabinet from 1976 to his death in 1978.