Kate Neser

Senior Consultant
Centre for Public Management

Kate Neser joined the Centre for Public Management (CPM) as a senior consultant in 2010, after working for the ACT Government for nearly twenty years, including five years at the Senior Executive Service (SES) level.

Kate has worked across a number of departments, spanning service delivery and central agency roles. Most recently, she was the Chief Finance Officer of the Chief Minister's Department, responsible for a budget over $70 million, covering a portfolio which included business development, tourism, arts, governance, strategic projects, Cabinet and policy, industrial relations, communications, events, Ministerial protocol, and a substantial capital works program. Kate also held the senior executive role of Director of Corporate Management, responsible for strategic human resource management, corporate reporting, strategic IT, and facilities management.

Prior to working in the Chief Minister's Department, Kate held a number of senior management roles in the ACT Department of Treasury. There she was responsible for driving a number of financial management reforms, including the implementation of accrual budgeting and accounting, a new financial management system, and a revised financial and performance management framework. Specific projects which she led personally were whole-of-government financial policy and budget strategy, and the consolidation of the whole of government accounts.

Kate was also responsible for a full review of the Financial Management Act 1996 (ACT), and for developing accounting and operational taxation policy for the ACT public service.

Kate has represented the ACT at a number of national forums, such as the Heads of Treasury Accounting and Reporting Advisory Committee (HoTARAC), and meetings of senior Treasury officials from all Australian jurisdictions. She has also presented at CPA conferences, run a finance training program across the ACT public service, and established and chaired the ACT Chief Finance Officers Forum.

Kate holds a Bachelor of Science majoring in Psychology, and a Graduate Diploma in Accounting. She has also completed a number of leadership development training programs, including with the Australian Graduate School of Management, and most recently has undertaken training as an Executive Coach with the Australian Institute of Executive Coaching

After successfully navigating a senior public service career with young children, and negotiating and successfully fulfilling a part-time senior executive position for a number of years, Kate's area of passion focuses on the work-life balance challenge facing many senior managers.