• Mr Rhys Edwards - Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet

Mr Rhys Edwards has been appointed as Secretary to the Department of Premier and Cabinet replacing Mr Evan Rolley who resigned in June 2008.  In addition to his role as DPAC Secretary, Rhys has held a number of senior positions in the Tasmanian Government over the past 10 years.  These include Acting Secretary of the Department of Economic Development, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Economic Development, economic adviser to Premier Jim Bacon and senior adviser to Paul Lennon.  Prior to joining the Tasmanian public service, Rhys worked as a university researcher, Australian Department of Treasury Cadet and real tennis professional.

For the past 18 months, Rhys has also been the Executive Director of the New Royal Project, a major government project to replace the Royal Hobart Hospital. 

Rhys has a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) first class, from University of Tasmania. He was awarded a Rhodes scholarship in 1992 and completed a Masters degree in Comparative Social Research from Oxford University. 

Rhys is a Fellow of the London-based 21st Century Trust, a member of the Economics Society of Australia, member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Associate Fellow of the Australian College of Health Care Executives.  He is a past Director of the Tasmanian Development Board and was appointed to the governing body of the University of Tasmania (“Council”) in January, 2007.