Bruce MacDonald (public servant)


Bruce MacDonald is a former senior Australian public servant best known for his time as Secretary of the Department of Sport, Recreation and Tourism.

Biography

From 1971 to 1977, MacDonald was Secretary of the Public Service Board.
In 1983, he was appointed as permanent head of the new Department of Sport, Recreation and Tourism. In 1986, MacDonald was said to have been tipped by insiders for the position of Commonwealth Ombudsman, but media reported that opposition was strong to any appointment of a bureaucrat to the position, and MacDonald stayed in his Secretary position. MacDonald was moved in 1987 instead for a senior position in the Data Protection Agency.
In May 1988, MacDonald was appointed special consultant to the Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories.