James Griffiths

Experience

• 

  University of Melbourne

  Nov 2007 - Dec 2008

  Disability Support Officer

  I provided one on one support to students with disability - this typically included helping them manage their workload through scheduling and assistance with books, getting to class, time table management. I also took notes for students and transcribed lectures, discussed class content and developed a supportive profile as needed. In a few cases I also acted as a personal tutor for Masters-level students with disability, helping them towards completion by providing close reading, editing and time management. Show less

• 

  Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations

  Feb 2009 - Mar 2013

  Policy Officer

  I worked across several policy and programme areas, including: good faith bargaining and the Fair Work Act; youth policy and whole-of-government responses to youth disadvantage; rural education; funding support for disadvantaged school students, managing programmes responsible for up to $250 million over four years; youth attainment and transitions policy and programmes; school funding reform including the 'Better Schools Plan' or 'Gonski' reforms, and legislative and regulatory aspects of schools funding and those reforms. This included some big picture blue sky thinking in rural education following the 2010 election, as well as the usual briefing, policy thinking, programme administration, stakeholder briefing and other tasks. I was fortunate enough to represent the Department and the Government as a number of public forums or stakeholder meetings. I also worked on evaluations of programmes and analysed proposed reforms before briefing Government. Show less

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  Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

  Mar 2013 - Oct 2014

  Adviser

  Experience across:* poverty and disadvantage; employment and services reform; women's issues; not for profit, charities and community sector issues; gambling policy; natural disaster policy and funding; commonwealth-state relations.Skills:* secretariat management; briefing, both verbal and written, including presentations; developing research products; 'big picture' holistic analysis; government reports, including co-ordination of responses both within and across government agencies; stakeholder and sensitivity management; media and messaging analysis; budget and government process. Show less

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  Department of Parliamentary Services

  Oct 2014 - Feb 2017

  Senior Researcher

  I provide advice to Parliamentary clients on Tertiary Education issues, including further and vocational education, adult education, apprenticeships, universities, and country and systemic comparisons.

• 

  ACT Government

  Feb 2017 - Oct 2018

  Advisor, Office of Rachel Stephen-Smith

  Community services, social inclusion, disability, multiculturalism.

• 

  JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY SAFETY DIRECTORATE - DEPARTMENTAL

  Nov 2018 - Mar 2019

  Policy Officer
• 

  Australian Government Department of Education and Training

  Mar 2019 - Jun 2019

  Assistant Director

  Working on apprenticeship and VET funding policy and programs, including research, data narrative, briefing products, and state and territory negotiations.

• 

  Department of Social Services

  Jul 2019 - Jun 2021

  Assistant Director

  NDIS policy and implementation.

• 

  Department of Social Services (DSS)

  Jun 2021 - Sept 2022

  Leading the team managing policy development and associated funding for whole-of-population and targeted prevention interventions under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children and its successor plan. Our Watch, Stop It At the Start, community-led and targeted activities. Women's Safety Policy and Implementation: Commonwealth-state funding and prevention. Responsible for policy design, reporting and data considerations, briefing, and funding recommendations on the new Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence National Partnership. Also working to finalise remaining requirements under the previous years Covid-19 National Partnership on Domestic and Family Violence Responses.

  • Director

    Jan 2022 - Sept 2022

  • Director (a/g)

    Sept 2021 - Jan 2022

  • Assistant Director

    Aug 2021 - Sept 2021

  • Director

    Jun 2021 - Aug 2021
• 

  Office of Minister For Social Services

  Sept 2022 - Jun 2023

  Adviser

  Adviser- Disability and Carers portfolio

• 

  Department of Social Services (DSS)

  Jul 2023 - now

  Director

  Managed teams across a variety of areas, including disability strategy, new policy proposal and cabinet processes, portfolio responsibilities for Closing the Gap, and Secretariat for the ADS Advisory Council.