Grahame Searle was a public service leader and innovator for many years.
More recently he was a witness at the Corruption and Crime Commission because of his role overseeing corrupt Department of Communities bureaucrat Paul Whyte.
He conceded the checks and balances in place to prevent taxpayers' money being stolen were not good enough. Mr Searle drove major organisational change in his former roles as director general at the Department of Housing (2008-2015) and as chief executive of Landgate (2004‑2008). Mr Searle is widely respected in the State Government and by Aboriginal leaders for his ability to facilitate collaboration and achieve results. At the Department of Housing, he oversaw the development of the Affordable Housing Strategy and led the nation in fulfilling targets set under the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing, exceeding Indigenous employment targets for five consecutive years. As State Reform Leader, he commenced systemic and long-term changes that will lead to better living conditions and greater education and employment opportunities for Aboriginal people in regional and remote Western Australia.
Mr Searle holds a Bachelor of Business from Monash University. He is a national Fellow and former State President of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, a Fellow of the Spatial Sciences Institutes, and a board member of the Western Australian Treasury Corporation. He was also a board member of the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information and the Australia Housing and Urban Research Institute.
