Sue Balnaves

Canberra

Sue joined CPM in March 2011 as Business Manager of the Reviews function, and also as a Reviewer, after a 28 year career in public administration. Sue had diverse roles in Defence, the Australian Public Service Commission and the ACT Government, with most time as an experienced HR Director with a focus on people and program management. Sue has an excellent ability to manage critical and unusual stakeholder issues and achieve good outcomes, and to engage sensitively and constructively to sort things out.
Sue has coached, mentored and counselled staff at all levels, and in difficult and complex situations. She has helped supervisors and individuals manage conflict and mis-matched expectations in the workplace, and has a reputation for sound judgment and advice. Sue has managed formal code of conduct and other investigations, and has enjoyed the trust and confidence of Agency Heads up to and including at Portfolio Secretary levels, including working for two Defence Secretaries as their Chief Executive Assistant. Sue provided strategic advice on people matters to Agency Heads and SES members within the Intelligence and Security Group in Defence, covering the whole spectrum of HR management and development.

In the APSC Sue managed the design, delivery and development of a suite of public programs for the APS, including the Public Sector Leaders' Summits, and had a prime role in establishing the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). This involved significant negotiations and brokering between stakeholders, including jurisdictions, universities, Ministers and the Prime Minister's office.

Sue (as Sue Bateson) was also the ACT Coordinator in the early years of the Public Sector Management Program (PSMP), a joint venture between all tiers of government and a number of universities. She played a major role in driving the growth and delivery of the first 30 PSMP courses for 640 APS middle managers from over 70 ACT and Commonwealth government agencies.

In Defence Sue also developed organisation specific workforce management solutions to address particular challenges, and was awarded for demonstrating exceptional stakeholder management prowess on two major and highly complex building and facilities projects of strategic importance to the Intelligence and Security Group in. Sue was asked to take on those projects because of her ability to form strong, authentic and constructive relationships.

Throughout her career Sue has developed a reputation as a doer and a fixer. She has a strong record of achievement, and a strong capacity to move between policy development and service delivery, showing agility and versatility and an enduring passion for the highest quality outcomes for people and public administration. Her relationship skills, and interest in people and talent management, career development, coaching, self-efficacy and resilience make her an effective all-rounder in working through difficult issues.
Sue is an accredited Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument practitioner, and can use the instrument to explore thinking styles of individuals and groups. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the Australian National University.