DFAT secretary's proudest achievement: Diversity

As one of her last duties as head of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Frances Adamson addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday to discuss her career as a diplomat and being the first female head of DFAT. Her greatest achievement in the role? Overseeing and supporting the improvement of diversity in the organization, especially the support for new female leaders that rose through the ranks in her time at the top.

“When I was appointed secretary of DFAT, I honestly didn’t think too much about being the department’s first female secretary,” she said. “I was well qualified for the job and ready to get down to business. But I quickly, from day one actually, came to appreciate the significance of being the first — the first female face in a long line of 39 solemn, black and white photos of my male predecessors on the fifth floor of DFAT’s Barton offices.”

Her legacy: Adamson became the secretary of DFAT in 2016 and quickly transformed the gender makeup of leadership, including at diplomatic missions overseas. The percentage of female senior executives has increased from 31% to 44%.

“The first accountability of a leader is to create a safe and inclusive environment that allows people to come to work, perform at their best, and to have hope for the future. As DFAT’s inaugural overarching diversity and inclusion champion, I’ve worked — with support from many passionate, capable colleagues — to drive organizational and cultural reforms that recognize diversity in leadership, and in our workforce, as central to our value proposition as an organization,” she said.

Adamson will be leaving DFAT as an organization she would have been proud to join when she first entered Australia’s public service in 1985.