Dr Heather Smith has had 20 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service at leadership levels covering economic, industry, innovation, communications, resources, foreign affairs, national security, and intelligence matters. 

She has previously served as Secretary of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (2017-2020) and the Department of Communications and the Arts (2016-2017), as Deputy Secretary in the Departments of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Foreign Affairs and Trade, and as Deputy Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence. She has also held positions in the Australian Treasury and Reserve Bank. She was the G20 Sherpa in 2014 during Australia’s Presidency.

Dr Smith is currently a non-executive director of the Australian Securities (Stock) Exchange Limited, of Challenger Limited, of Qantas Limited and of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program. She is also a member of the Mitsubishi Australia Limited Advisory Committee.

From June 2021 to July 2024 Dr Smith was a Professor at the Australian National University’s (ANU) National Security College and was a director and deputy-chair of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney from 2019 to March 2023.  

Dr Smith is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) and in April 2023 was appointed the National President of the AIIA. 

She co-led the 2024 Independent Review of Australia’s National Intelligence Community.
 
Dr Smith holds a PhD in Economics from the ANU. From 1994-2000 she was an academic specialising on Northeast Asia at the ANU. She has been a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution and has completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.