Mr Trevor Van Dam
Trevor Van Dam has over 25 years of experience in the public sector, the last fifteen of which were in Senior Executive Band 1, 2 and 3 positions. Trevor has worked across a wide range of Australian Public Service agencies – Including in the Department of Trade and Resources, Austrade, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Public Service Board (PSB), the Australian Customs Service (ACS) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). In addition, Trevor has also worked in the private sector and for the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Trevor has extensive APS policy and operational experience in Human Resource Management. Positions held include as a policy officer in the PSB, Regional Manager for Human Resources with the ABS, Assistant Director and Director of Industrial Relations with the ACS, National Manager Staffing with the ACS and as Chief Operating Officer (Deputy Secretary) with the AFP. In all of those positions Trevor was directly involved in establishing ethical, sustainable and effective working environments in medium to large APS agencies.
Trevor worked on the establishment of the current Public Service Act 1999 and has been an active participant and advisor on many of the significant policy changes to Human Resource Management across the APS. He has also had significant experience in the application of the APS Values and the APS Code of Conduct in operational settings.
Prior to leaving the service in 2007 Trevor spent 5 years as the Chief Operating Officer (Deputy Secretary) for the AFP. In that role he had management responsibility for the full range of corporate support functions, including a budget of $1.2 billion, human resource policy and practices for 6500 staff and oversight of the Professional Standards (Internal Investigations) Branch.
For 20 years Trevor has been actively involved in, or has oversighted reviews of employment decisions, the management of grievances and the investigation of conduct issues. He also has a depth of experience in establishing and maintaining operational frameworks for the management of these issues within and across APS agencies. Trevor’s other APS experience includes as an economist in the trade sector, as an airport manager with the ACS and as a Regional Director in both Qld and New South Wales with the ACS.
In addition, in the ACS and the AFP Trevor was responsible for the establishment of five enterprise agreements and has led negotiations across the full range of industrial and human resource issues. He has wide experience in mediating disputes and negotiating agreements within the APS and between APS agencies and the private and state sectors.
Trevor has a Bachelors degree in economics and has completed post graduate studies in Industrial Relations, Labour Economics and Political Science.
Trevor has been admitted as a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.