Noel Tanzer
{{Short description|Australian public servant}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Noel Tanzer
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|AC}}
| image =
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| office1 = Secretary of the Department of the Arts and Administrative Services
| term_start1 = 24 March 1993
| term_end1 = 19 December 1993
| office2 = Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services
| term_start2 = 1 March 1989
| term_end2 = 24 March 1993
| office3 = Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs
| term_start3 = 18 December 1986
| term_end3 = 1 March 1989
| birth_name = Noel John Tanzer
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1925|11|16|df=y}}
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| nationality = Australian
| other_names =
| occupation = Public servant
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Noel John Tanzer, {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|AC}} (born 16 November 1925) is a retired senior Australian public servant and policymaker.
Life and career
Noel Tanzer was born on 16 November 1925.{{citation|title=CP 691: Noel John TANZER AC|url=http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CP+691|publisher=National Archives of Australia|accessdate=28 January 2014}}
Tanzer began his career in the Commonwealth Public Service in 1949, serving for 17 years in Brisbane.{{cite interview|title=Interview with Noel Tanzer, Secretary of the Dept. of Administrative Services and Head of the Inquiry into the Tendering for the Demolition of Royal Canberra Hospital|interviewer=John Farquharson|first=Noel|last=Tanzer|date=1998}}
In 1980 and 1981 he was serving as a senior assistant commissioner in the management systems and efficiency division of the Public Service Board.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125629648|first=Ross|last=Andrews|date=25 October 1980|page=9|newspaper=The Canberra Times|title=PS computer inquiry}}{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125640993|title='Disastrous' procedure for acquiring computers|date=14 June 1981|page=4|first=Stephen|last=Payne|newspaper=The Canberra Times}}
Tanzer was appointed Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs in 1986.{{cite news|title=Major PS appointments announced by Hawke|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=19 December 1986|page=3|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130636006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128084954/http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/130636006|archive-date=28 January 2014|url-status=live}} Immediately prior to his Veterans' Affairs appointment, he had been a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Social Security.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118268649|title=On-line processing for Social Security|page=17|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=13 October 1986}}
He moved to the Department of Administrative Services in 1989.{{cite press release|url=http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=7509|archive-date=28 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128083427/http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=7509|first=Robert|last=Hawke|author-link=Bob Hawke|title=Untitled|date=27 February 1989}} His task was to have the department operate in accordance with commercial principles.{{citation|chapter-url=http://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/COMCAR-Book.pdf|page=130|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140120235734/http://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/COMCAR-eight.pdf|chapter=Chapter 8: A more commercial approach: 1983 – 1990|title=Going the extra mile: A history of the Commonwealth Car Service 1910–2010|year=2010 |url-status=live|archive-date=20 January 2014|publisher=Department of Finance and Deregulation|isbn=978-1-921600-56-2}} He also aimed to improve departmental services to customers.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122330561|title=DAS readies itself for a shake-up|first=Verona|last=Burgess|author-link=Verona Burgess|date=14 December 1990|page=5|newspaper=The Canberra Times}} He restructured 17 separate departmental units into four programs, and offered redundancy packages to downsize the department, reducing staffing numbers by more than 1000.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127254291|title=Stevens shuffle angers top PS|first=Verona|last=Burgess|author-link=Verona Burgess|newspaper=The Canberra Times|page=2|date=14 December 1993}} The new structure Tanzer established saw much of the department run on commercial lines and funded on a trust-account basis.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127250473|title=Tanzer says his likely successors must wait|first=Verona|last=Burgess|author-link=Verona Burgess|date=27 September 1993|newspaper=The Canberra Times|page=12}}
Tanzer retired from the public service in 1993, his final appointment was as Secretary of the Department of the Arts and Administrative Services.{{cite press release|url=http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=9078|archive-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111042245/http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=9078|title=STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON PJ KEATING MP PUBLIC SERVICE APPOINTMENTS|first=Paul|last=Keating|author-link=Paul Keating|date=13 December 1993}} As head of the Department, he was responsible for handling more than $2 billion in revenue.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127202605|title=DAS Secretary confirms decision to leave in July|date=18 March 1993|page=3|newspaper=The Canberra Times|first=Verona|last=Burgess|author-link=Verona Burgess|location=ACT}}
In 1994, Tanzer was appointed as a consultant to the law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques.{{cite news|title=Tanzer moves from public service to legal service|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118114041|archive-date=28 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128085617/http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/118114041|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=18 April 1994|page=13|url-status=live}}
Awards
References
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{S-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=Himself|as=Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services}}
{{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the Department of the Arts and Administrative Services |years=1993|rows=2}}
{{s-aft|after=Andrew Podger|rows=2}}
{{s-bef|before=Tony Blunn|as=Secretary of the Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment and Territories}}
{{s-bef|before=Graham Glenn}}
{{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services|years=1989–1993}}
{{s-aft|after=Himself|as=Secretary of the Department of the Arts and Administrative Services}}
{{s-bef|before=Derek Volker}}
{{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs|years=1986–1989}}
{{s-aft|after=Lionel Woodward}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanzer, Noel}}
Category:Companions of the Order of Australia
Category:Secretaries of the Australian Government Veterans' Affairs Department