Our leaders
Rachel Hunter PSM
Director-General
Ms Rachel Hunter is a highly regarded and accomplished Director-General and chief executive, having worked across various portfolios over an extensive career.
A distinguished public sector leader, Ms Hunter is the first female Director-General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in Queensland since the department’s inception in 1859.
Ms Hunter brings to the role an outcomes-focused and values-led leadership style.
As Queensland’s former Under Treasurer, Ms Hunter was at the helm of Queensland Treasury at a critical time when the government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Under Treasurer she was instrumental in shaping and delivering the government’s economic response and recovery plans for the state.
Ms Hunter has been Director-General of three Queensland Government departments — the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, the Department of Education, Training and the Arts and the former Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning. She also served as Queensland’s Public Service Commissioner between 2001 and 2003.
Ms Hunter is a member of the Trade and Investment Queensland Board, Building Queensland Board, and the National First Secretaries Group. She also is the Deputy Chancellor, Griffith University.
Ms Hunter has chaired the Board of Jobs Queensland providing industry and evidence-based advice on skills needs and workforce planning and has served as the Chair of Children’s Health Queensland.
In 2020, Ms Hunter was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to the community of Queensland.
Dave Stewart
Director-General (July 2020 to April 2021)
Mr Dave Stewart was appointed Director-General in February 2015. Prior to this role he was the Secretary for Transport for New South Wales (NSW), shaping planning, policy and delivery of public transport, roads, and freight.
After a long career in local government and engineering construction in Australia and the United Kingdom, Dave joined the Queensland Government in 2006 as Deputy Coordinator-General within the Department of Infrastructure and Planning, delivering major water and road projects. From June 2008, he was the Director-General of Queensland Transport and then the Department of Transport and Main Roads, overseeing integration of organisations to a new customer-focused model. His primary responsibility was transport leadership including strategic policy and planning, system stewardship, infrastructure delivery and service delivery.
One of his highlights as the Director-General was participating in the community champions program for Aboriginal communities and Torres Strait Islander communities, regularly visiting gulf communities and assisting them to access much needed government services. He is passionate about regional Queensland and engaging directly with residents, business, government, and community leaders.
Dave is a civil engineer and holds a Masters degree in Business and a Masters degree in Engineering Science. He completed an executive program at Harvard University looking at private sector involvement in infrastructure delivery. He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia, an Honorary Fellow, Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, and a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. He was a member of the Trade and Investment Queensland Board, Building Queensland Board, Cross River Rail Delivery Board’, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and First Secretaries Group.
Mark Cridland
Deputy Director-General, Policy
As Deputy Director-General, Policy, Mr Mark Cridland is responsible for leading the economic, social, environment and intergovernmental relations teams in providing high-level strategic policy advice for the Premier and Cabinet and for the implementation of key government decisions. The division Mark leads also supports the Premier’s participation on National Cabinet and as Chair of the Queensland Disaster Management Cabinet Committee.
Mark is Chair of the Advancing Queensland Industry Attraction Fund Panel and the Chair of the Investment Panel that considers Exclusive Transactions. He is co-Chair of the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee and on the Board for Economic Development Queensland. Mark is also a member of Australia’s First Ministers’ Deputies Group.
Mark is a highly experienced senior executive with 30 years of proven leadership and delivery in large and complex government and private sector organisations.
Between 2013 and May 2018, Mark was a senior director and account leader with KPMG Australia where he led significant engagements across Australia covering infrastructure, economic evaluation, governance, performance frameworks and national reforms.
For the decade prior to 2013 Mark held numerous senior executive roles in Queensland and NSW governments. This included Deputy DirectorGeneral, Policy, Planning, and Investment, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads between 2009 and 2013.
Mark has a passion and commitment to public service. He believes the public service role can play a positive influence on outcomes for all Queenslanders.
Filly Morgan PSM
Deputy Director-General, Corporate and Government Services
Filly has more than 25 years’ experience in the Queensland public sector. In her current role as Deputy Director-General she leads the delivery of Corporate and Government Services. This includes supporting business before Executive Council, providing advice on machinery-of-government and constitutional matters, leading whole-of-government coordination on veterans’ matters and policy, the corporate functions for the department as well as corporate support for Ministerial Offices and the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.
Filly has a broad range of experience in central and line agencies. She has previously worked in senior roles in DPC and the Department of Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games. Filly is a Clerk of the Executive Council, the Queensland representative on the Council for the Order of Australia and the Australian Bravery Decorations Council. Filly is also a member of the Audit Committee for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Filly was awarded a Public Service Medal on Australia Day 2018 for outstanding public service through a range of coordination and governance roles in Queensland.
Christine Castley
Acting Deputy Director-General, Strategy and Engagement (July to October 2020)
Ms Christine Castley has served in multiple senior leadership roles across the Queensland Government, with significant experience in strategic policy, governance, and service delivery. In the role as Deputy Director-General of Strategy and Engagement Christine led, directed, and coordinated whole-of-government sponsorships and events management plus state occasions, official visits, and functions.
Christine also led strategic communication and whole-of-government media relations and supported enhanced regional stakeholder engagement through the Office for Rural and Regional Queensland and the Regional Community Forums initiative. Prior to this, Christine was Deputy Director-General, Housing, Homelessness and Sport in the Department of Housing and Public Works.
Christine has previously worked in a variety of agencies including Natural Resources and Mines, State Development, and the Queensland Performing Arts Trust, and has had primary responsibility for developing significant public sector reform, right to information and privacy legislation.
Christine holds a Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Arts, Postgraduate Diploma of Arts and Master of Public Administration from the University of Queensland.
Kerry Petersen PSM
Deputy Director-General, 2032 Taskforce
Deputy Director-General, Strategy and
Engagement Division and COVID-19 Response
and Recovery Taskforce (November 2020 to
March 2021)
Ms Kerry Petersen is the Deputy Director-General, of the 2032 Taskforce within DPC and is responsible for leading the Queensland Government’s engagement in all activities associated with the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including engagement with a complex network of 2032 Games stakeholders.
Under Kerry’s leadership, the 2032 Taskforce was responsible for the successful candidature for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, drawing on expertise in major and mega event planning and delivery across government.
During 2020–2021, Kerry was also Deputy Head of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Taskforce and responsible for the Strategy and Engagement Division.
Kerry previously led the Queensland Government’s delivery of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) including the delivery of the GC2018 infrastructure.
Kerry brings over 30 years of public sector experience to the role including delivery of other significant public infrastructure programs and projects.
Kerry has a reputation for forging productive stakeholder relationships and partnerships in complex operating environments, as well as a commitment to exemplar corporate governance, which has been critical to her success in leading complex programs and maximising cross government opportunities. Kerry was awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM) in June 2019 which recognises outstanding service by employees of Australian, federal state and local government agencies.
Leighton Craig
Cabinet Secretary
Mr Leighton Craig has more than 24 years’ experience in the public sector. In his role as Cabinet Secretary, he heads the team responsible for managing services across the Queensland Government that support the operation of the Cabinet and Cabinet Committees and the coordination of the government’s legislation program. His team also monitors delivery of government commitments and decisions and supports agencies to implement the Queensland Government Performance Management Framework.
Leighton has worked in a diverse range of policy and project areas within government, including law and justice policy, disaster relief, community engagement on significant infrastructure and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage. He has previously headed the legal and constitutional area of DPC and has been involved in the transitional governance arrangements for successive Queensland governments. He has been a Clerk of the Executive Council since 2010.
Leighton holds a Bachelor of Laws and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1996.
Tony Keyes
Queensland Parliamentary Counsel
Mr Tony Keyes was appointed as Parliamentary Counsel on 15 October 2018. Tony studied law and arts at the University of Queensland and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1990. Tony has had a long and varied legal career, including private and community-sector practice, policy and investigative work at the Criminal Justice Commission, the Ombudsman’s Office, and the Law Reform Commission, working in law and justice policy for DPC, and serving for almost 10 years as Senior Deputy Crown Solicitor at Crown Law.