Robyn Kruk

Kruk graduated from the University of New South Wales in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology (Honours).{{citation|url=http://www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/34459/Department_of_Premier_and_Cabinet_Annual_Report_2007-08.pdf|page=27|publisher=Department of Premier and Cabinet|date=November 2008|title=New South Wales Government Department of Premier and Cabinet Annual Report 2007–08}}

Kruk began her career in the NSW public sector in 1980. 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.{{citation|url=http://www0.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2005/pdf/ar_2005.pdf|page=5|title=NSW Department of Health Annual Report 2004–05|date=November 2005|publisher=NSW Health|isbn=0-7347-3875-7|archivedate=27 March 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110327165624/http://health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2005/pdf/ar_2005.pdf}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/dry-resolve-in-the-face-of-crisis-20100226-p95a.html|title=Dry resolve in the face of crisis|first=Andrew|last=Clennell|date=27 February 2010|archivedate=6 May 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506013259/http://www.smh.com.au/national/dry-resolve-in-the-face-of-crisis-20100226-p95a.html|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nsw/content/2005/s1420735.htm|archivedate=20 October 2008|url-status=live|title=Too Scared to Talk|date=22 July 2005|website=Stateline|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020095025/http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nsw/content/2005/s1420735.htm}}

At the end of her NSW public sector career she was Director-General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet.{{citation|url=http://www.defenceabusetaskforce.gov.au/Aboutus/Pages/default.aspx|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128042308/http://www.defenceabusetaskforce.gov.au/Aboutus/Pages/default.aspx|archivedate=28 January 2014|title=About us|publisher=Defence Abuse Response Taskforce|date=6 September 2013}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/nathan-rees-axes-premiers-department-head-robyn-kruk/story-e6frewor-1111117770608|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|first=Joe|last=Hildebrand|title=Nathan Rees axes Premier's Department head Robyn Kruk |date=16 October 2008}}{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/top-public-servant-too-tired-to-continue/2008/10/16/1223750232694.html|first=Andrew|last=Clennell|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|title=Top public servant too tired to continue|date=17 October 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429131925/http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/top-public-servant-too-tired-to-continue/2008/10/16/1223750232694.html|archivedate=29 April 2010}} 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.{{cite news|newspaper=The Australian|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/news/top-bureaucrat-disillusioned/story-e6frg6o6-1111117806193|title=Top NSW bureaucrat Robyn Kruk disillusioned|first=Imre|last=Salusinszky|author-link=Imre Salusinszky|date=21 October 2008|publisher=News Corp Australia}}

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.{{citation|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/politics/top-bureaucrat-robyn-kruk-defends-insulation-scheme/story-e6frgczf-1225832957132|title=Top bureaucrat Robyn Kruk defends insulation scheme|first=Samantha|last=Maiden|date=22 February 2010|newspaper=The Australian|publisher=News Corp Australia|accessdate=4 February 2010}}{{citation|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-02-22/department-head-says-sorry-for-insulation-deaths/338982|title=Department head says sorry for insulation deaths|archivedate=4 February 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204012218/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-02-22/department-head-says-sorry-for-insulation-deaths/338982|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Commission|date=22 February 2010}} From September 2010, Kruk was suffering from cancer,{{cite press release|title=Departmental Secretaries|url=http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=17894|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201172800/http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/browse.php?did=17894|archivedate=1 February 2014|first=Julia|last=Gillard|author-link=Julia Gillard|date=1 June 2011}} and took extended sick leave from the role, with Paul Grimes acting in her position.{{cite news|url=http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/09/15/minimal-change-in-the-bureaucracy-as-the-canberra-arrangements-are-settled/?wpmp_switcher=mobile|title=Minimal change in the bureaucracy as the Canberra arrangements are settled|first=Bernard|last=Keane|date=15 September 2010|publisher=Crikey|archivedate=28 January 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128041044/http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/09/15/minimal-change-in-the-bureaucracy-as-the-canberra-arrangements-are-settled/?wpmp_switcher=mobile}}

Following successful cancer treatment, Kruk returned to work in 2011 and was appointed the inaugural CEO and Commissioner of the National Mental Health Commission.{{cite press release|url=http://www.acmhn.org/news-events/media/parliamentary-media|archivedate=28 January 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128040423/http://www.acmhn.org/news-events/media/parliamentary-media|title=RETIREMENT OF ROBYN KRUK AM|first=Mark|last=Butler|author-link=Mark Butler|date=30 May 2013}}{{citation|url=http://www.comcare.gov.au/events/past_events/2012_national_conference/speaker_presentations2/speaker_presentations/robyn_kruk/speaker_ms_robyn_kruk_am,_chief_executive_officer,_australian_mental_health_commission_-_transcript|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213101938/https://www.comcare.gov.au/events/past_events/2012_national_conference/speaker_presentations2/speaker_presentations/robyn_kruk/speaker_ms_robyn_kruk_am,_chief_executive_officer,_australian_mental_health_commission_-_transcript|archivedate=13 February 2014|publisher=Comcare|title=Speaker: Ms Robyn Kruk AM, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Mental Health Commission Our National Investment in Mental Health - transcript|first=Robyn|last=Kruk}}

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 and led international taskforces assessing sustainable development in China. In 2014, she appeared before the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bureaucrat-sorry-for-home-insulation-deaths-20140328-35olm.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329131833/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bureaucrat-sorry-for-home-insulation-deaths-20140328-35olm.html|archivedate=29 March 2014|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=Bureaucrat sorry for home insulation deaths|date=28 March 2014|publisher=Fairfax Media|agency=Australian Associated Press}} In 2015, she was appointed chair of the eHealth Implementation Steering Committee, to oversee delivery of an Australia-wide electronic medical record system.{{cite press release|url=http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/health-mediarel-yr2015-ley122.htm|date=9 October 2015|first=Sussan|last=Ley|author-link=Sussan Ley|title=Developing a 21st century electronic health record system|archivedate=12 March 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312062645/http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/health-mediarel-yr2015-ley122.htm|publisher=Australian Government}}{{cite news|url=http://www.psnews.com.au/aps/477/news/commission-for-ehealth-taking-shape|accessdate=6 June 2016|title=Commission for eHealth taking shape|publisher=PSNews|edition=477|work=PS News|date=13 October 2015}}

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.

In 2005, Kruk was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to public administration in New South Wales. 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".{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2001270|title=KRUK, Robyn Caroline|website=honours.pmc.gov.au|access-date=2018-07-28}}

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{{s-bef|before=David Borthwick}}

{{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the
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Environment, Water, Population and Communities}}

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Category:Living people

Category:21st-century Australian women public servants

Category:21st-century Australian public servants

Category:National Library of Australia Council members

Category:Officers of the Order of Australia

Category:University of New South Wales alumni

Category:Executive directors of government departments of New South Wales

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)