Emily Roper PSM has been the acting director general at the Department of the Premier & Cabinet since March 2020 and was formally appointed director general in December 2021, becoming the first female to be substantively appointed to the position.
Prior to that, she was the deputy director general of inter-governmental relations and COVID-19 where she was responsible for leading engagement with the Australian and other State and Territory governments and supporting WA’s COVID-19 pandemic response. She was also the deputy director general for policy and reform where she was tasked with overseeing Aboriginal, social, economic and environment policy, and the government’s public sector reform program.
Ms Roper worked for the Commonwealth and WA public sector in a number of leadership change management, capability development and engagement roles within Australia and overseas.
She led the Public Sector Reform Unit which is responsible for coordinating and supporting wide-ranging reform of the Western Australian public sector. Ms Roper was deputy commissioner of operational services and led the intelligence services directorate at the Department of Justice. In the Commonwealth public sector, she held a range of strategic leadership, operational and liaison engagement roles; led a number of projects to review and redesign core and specialist capabilities; and oversaw their implementation.
In 2023, Ms Roper was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding public service through leadership and management in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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