Appointed November 2024

Simon Smith has focussed his career on improving the nexus between the economy and the environment. His tertiary training was in economics.

Simon served for 30 years in the NSW public sector, including as the Secretary of the Department of Industry and deputy head of the Premiers Department and of the Environment Department. He was also a director on the boards of Jobs for NSW, Destination NSW and Infrastructure NSW.

In the period after leaving the public sector he worked as Chief Operating Officer of the ASX listed PEXA Group, which provides Australia’s leading digital platform for property transactions. He is currently a director of RACE for 2030, which is a cooperative research centre focussed on helping Australia’s transition to reliable, affordable and clean energy by 2030, and is chair of the NSW Independent Expert Advisory Panel for Energy Transition.