Robyn Kruk

Robyn Kruk AO (/ˈkrʌk/) is a retired senior Australian public servant and policymaker.

Robyn Kruk AO
Secretary of the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
In office March 2009 – 14 September 2010
Personal details
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	University of New South Wales
Occupation	Public servant

Background and early life

Kruk graduated from the University of New South Wales in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology (Honours).[1]

Career

Kruk began her career in the NSW public sector in 1980.[1] In 1994 she was appointed Director-General of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and in 2002 was appointed Director-General of the NSW Department of Health.[2] She was in the role at the time of the Camden-Campbelltown hospital crisis, when whistleblower nurses made accusations that 19 deaths at the hospitals could have been avoided.[3] In response to the crisis, Kruk convened a futures forum for top health administrators to start planning NSW health policy for the next 20 years. Kruk argued that the crisis drove a whole range of changes in the NSW health system.[4]

At the end of her NSW public sector career she was Director-General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet.[5] When Kruk left her top position in the Premier's department in 2008, the media reported that she told Premier Nathan Rees she no longer had the energy and commitment to continue.[6][7] Shortly after, media stated that Kruk may have been concerned at excessive union influence and at the prominence of the NSW Finance Minister Joe Tripodi in mini-budget discussions.[8]

In early 2009 she was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. During her time at the department, she oversaw the Energy Efficient Homes Package, a program beset by controversy after four workers died in separate accidents linked to program installations and house fires caused by insulation fitted poorly under the scheme.[9][10] From September 2010, Kruk was suffering from cancer,[11] and took extended sick leave from the role, with Paul Grimes acting in her position.[12]

Following successful cancer treatment, Kruk returned to work in 2011 and was appointed the inaugural CEO and Commissioner of the National Mental Health Commission.[13][14]

Following her retirement from the Commission, she undertook program reviews and was appointed to a range of non-executive board and statutory positions. Kruk was the Independent Assessor for the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART) and led international taskforces assessing sustainable development in China. In 2014, she appeared before the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program.[15] In 2015, she was appointed chair of the eHealth Implementation Steering Committee, to oversee delivery of an Australia-wide electronic medical record system.[16][17]

Kruk is a Chair Emerita of the US-based Milbank Memorial Fund, a philanthropic health research organisation, and has been a judge of the Dubai government’s annual public sector excellence awards since 2013.

Kruk is a member of the NSW Planning Assessment Commission, the Chair of the NSW Ambulance Advisory Council, the Deputy Chair of Mental Health Australia, the Chair of the Victorian Expert Advisory Committee on Perpetrator Interventions, the Chair of the Western Australia Partnership Forum reporting to the Premier on improving community services and the Chair of Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

Awards

In 2005, Kruk was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to public administration in New South Wales.[13] She was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to public administration, particularly through mental health reform, to environmental protection and natural resource management, and to food standards".[18]

References

1. New South Wales Government Department of Premier and Cabinet Annual Report 2007–08 (PDF), Department of Premier and Cabinet, November 2008, p. 27
2. NSW Department of Health Annual Report 2004–05 (PDF), November 2005, p. 5, ISBN 0 7347 3875 7, archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2011
3. Clennell, Andrew (27 February 2010). "Dry resolve in the face of crisis". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 6 May 2010.
4. "Too Scared to Talk". Stateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 July 2005. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008.
5. About us, Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, 6 September 2013, archived from the original on 28 January 2014
6. Hildebrand, Joe (16 October 2008). "Nathan Rees axes Premier's Department head Robyn Kruk". The Daily Telegraph.
7. Clennell, Andrew (17 October 2008). "Top public servant too tired to continue". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010.
8. Salusinszky, Imre (21 October 2008). "Top NSW bureaucrat Robyn Kruk disillusioned". The Australian. News Corp Australia.
9. Maiden, Samantha (22 February 2010), "Top bureaucrat Robyn Kruk defends insulation scheme", The Australian, News Corp Australia, retrieved 4 February 2010
10. Department head says sorry for insulation deaths, Australian Broadcasting Commission, 22 February 2010, archived from the original on 4 February 2014
11. Gillard, Julia (1 June 2011). "Departmental Secretaries" (Press release). Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
12. Keane, Bernard (15 September 2010). "Minimal change in the bureaucracy as the Canberra arrangements are settled". Crikey. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
13. Butler, Mark (30 May 2013). "RETIREMENT OF ROBYN KRUK AM" (Press release). Archived from the original on 28 January 2014.
14. Kruk, Robyn, Speaker: Ms Robyn Kruk AM, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Mental Health Commission Our National Investment in Mental Health - transcript, Comcare, archived from the original on 13 February 2014
15. "Bureaucrat sorry for home insulation deaths". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Australian Associated Press. 28 March 2014. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014.
16. Ley, Sussan (9 October 2015). "Developing a 21st century electronic health record system" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016.
17. "Commission for eHealth taking shape". PS News (477 ed.). PSNews. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
18. "KRUK, Robyn Caroline". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 28 July 2018.