Darren Foster was appointed Director General at the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in July 2017 bringing to the role over 30 years' public service experience gained at all levels of government, overseeing a broad range of legislative, policy and cultural reforms.
Encouraging transparency reforms, simplified policies and approvals processes, and driving cultural change has been a common focus of Darren’s career across portfolios as diverse as Treasury, Energy, Racing and Gaming, Regional Development, Arts, Employment and Training, Health and Education. Darren has held senior roles at the Department of Fisheries, Office of the Environment Protection Authority and at the National Native Title Tribunal.
Darren has served on numerous boards and committees, including Western Australia’s 175th Anniversary Steering Committee, the State’s Overseas Relations Committee (Sister-State relationships) and the Curtin University Governing Council. Darren holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communication and Cultural Studies) and a Postgraduate Diploma of Arts (History), and is an alumnus of the Australian and New Zealand School of Government Executive Fellows Program. Darren is the first Western Australian to receive the prestigious Sir James Wolfensohn Scholarship at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.