Neil Castles
Director-General
Department of Housing and Public Works
Neil has over 35 years' experience in the areas of government, public sector financing, public sector accounting and auditing, capital markets and financial risk management.
Neil came to the Department of Housing and Public Works in August 2012. Prior to this, he was the Director-General for the Department of Local Government since April 2012, and held the position of Deputy Director-General of Finance Procurement and Legal Services with Queensland Health for 15 months. Neil spent 23 years with Queensland Treasury Corporation with wide experience in key positions, including as a member of the Executive Management Group from 1991. Neil had also worked in the Queensland Audit Office.
Neil's experience includes membership on boards and corporations such as IBIS (responsible for retail services throughout the Torres Strait) and the City of Brisbane Investment Corporation (an investment vehicle of the Brisbane City Council). Prior to joining Queensland Health, Neil held director and company secretary positions on a number of Queensland Government special purpose companies.
Damien Walker
Deputy Director-General
Housing Services
Damien joined the Department of Housing and Public Works in January 2014. He commenced his career with the Queensland Government in late 2010 as Deputy Coordinator-General. Most recently, Damien held the position of Deputy Director-General, Government Land and Asset Management with the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning. In this role, Damien led the review and reform of the State’s approach to holding and managing its real property assets.
Prior to coming to Queensland, Damien held senior executive roles in the South Australian Government . Damien’s roles were in infrastructure planning and delivery, contract management and reform implementation. Just prior to his move to Queensland, Damien worked in the Department of Health in South Australia leading the delivery of major health infrastructure and driving change to health service delivery, particularly via new models of care. In this role, Damien was part of an executive team that led the implementation of the New Royal Adelaide Hospital Public Private Partnership project, valued at in excess of $1.7 billion.
Damien holds academic qualifications in public policy and planning.
Graham Atkins
Deputy Director-General
Building and Asset Services
Graham has more than 30 years experience in the building and construction industry. This includes the past 10 years in the Department of Education and Training (DET) where he held various roles including Deputy Director-General and Assistant Director-General responsible for all infrastructure planning and delivery. During his time at DET, Graham was instrumental in leading the delivery of record capital and maintenance programs.
Graham has qualifications in building and quantity surveying as well as trade qualifications, and is committed to building strong relationships with key stakeholders and departmental clients to ensure that the department provides responsive and flexible client focussed services.
Don Rivers
Assistant Director-General
Building Industry and Policy
Dip Architecture, Grad Dip Building Project Management
Don was appointed to the role of Assistant Director-General, Building Industry and Policy in July 2013.
With professional qualifications in architecture and project management, Don joined the department in 1995 after 20 years in the private sector as an Architect delivering many of the State’s capital works projects. Throughout the last 18 years with the department, Don has held a number of positions including Regional Architect, Client Manager and Portfolio Director.
Over the past eight years, Don held the position of General Manager in the department’s former building design and construction services business where he led the delivery of many of the State’s significant assets including the Brisbane Supreme and District Court project, the Gatton Correctional Centre and many major hospital redevelopments.
Robyn Turbit
Assistant Director-General
Corporate Services
BComm, BEcon, MIIA
Robyn has led the Corporate and Executive Services Division since May 2007. Prior to this, Robyn held the position of Director, Governance and Review, a role she held since November 2004. From 2001, Robyn was Manager, Internal Audit. In her current position, Robyn is responsible for human resource management, financial services, legal services, information services, executive services, integrity services, planning and performance management, communication services, and internal audit.
Robyn has extensive private and public sector experience in financial management and auditing, including five years in financial management consulting. Robyn is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors.
Fiona Wright
A/Assistant Director-General
Strategic Asset Management
Fiona has more than 20 years experience in senior leadership roles, including, significant time spent in the private sector across the insurance, superannuation and retail industries. Her breadth of experience includes strong operations management, service delivery and business transformation.
Before joining the Queensland Government, Fiona held business development roles in the City Design and City Buildings and Maintenance business units of the Brisbane City Council. She joined the Queensland Government in 1999 to deliver corporate services to the then Building Division of the former Department of Public Works. In 2003, Fiona established and led the Human Resources Division in Shared Services (CSQ), providing payroll and recruitment services to 12 agency clients. Fiona took on the role of General Manager of QFleet in 2006, a role in which she led major reform in fleet management across government.
Fiona has a Bachelor of Commerce, has completed the ANZSOG Executive Fellows program and is completing a Diploma of Advanced Procurement. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and committee member on the Queensland Chapter of the Australasian Fleet Managers Association.
Jane McDonald
A/Assistant Director-General
Procurement Transformation
Jane joined the Department of Housing and Public Works
in July 2014 as Chief Operating Officer and supported the Assistant
Director-General by assuming responsibly for the operational management and
enhanced performance and delivery of the Procurement Transformation Program
(PTP). Jane is a chartered accountant by profession and has a strong commercial
background, having held executive positions across a number of industries in
both the public and private sector.
Before joining the department, Jane played a lead role in implementing the contestability framework,
processes and tools to improve service delivery outcomes across Queensland
Government. Jane is passionate about delivering best value public
services for Queenslanders and believes that a world class procurement function
will be essential in supporting government as it transforms from being a
service provider to a commissioner and contract manager.