INTHEBLACK May 2026 - Magazine - Page 16
MEMBER PROFILE
The Canberra-born-and-bred official,
who got his accounting degree from the
University of Canberra, says he simply strives
to do every project to the best of his ability,
as well as treating all people with dignity
and respect. “I think part of the reason
I am here is because I have done a lot in
the budget, accounting and IT areas that
are important to our economy,” Yannopoulos
says. “And most people do not have bad
things to say about me!”
EXCEPTIONAL TRACK RECORD
Before his new job, Yannopoulos was
associate secretary at the Department
of Defence, overseeing elements such as
service delivery, the workforce, finances,
facilities, information and communications
technology, and data management in support
of national security initiatives.
In addition to another stint in the
Department of Finance, he has also worked
in the health, education and immigration
portfolios, while his public service career
was interrupted by a four-year stint two
decades ago at the Australian Taxation
Office. He finished his time at the ATO
as acting chief design officer, earning praise
for reshaping its outdated tech stack — an
early sign of the skills that have since forged
his reputation as a changemaker.
“My career background has been crucial
to my ability to understand the different
pressures that go on in different parts of
government, but also to have a level
of empathy with my colleagues, the other
secretaries, who are operating in those
domains,” Yannopoulos says.
Despite a stellar résumé, he admits that
up until about five years ago the prospect
of being a secretary would have seemed
unlikely. The key has been to keep delivering
successful projects while earning the faith
of government ministers. “It is about having
the confidence of ministers and their teams
that you offer solutions to whatever the
issue of the day is, as well as delivering on
something that you said you could do. To get
16 INTHEBLACK May 2026
to this role, you need a track record of doing
that and, while being respectful, sometimes
saying, ‘Well, I cannot deliver on that in the
way that you seek’.”
IMPROVING AUSSIE LIVES
For Yannopoulos, job satisfaction comes
from delivering projects that improve the
lives of Australians, and a few projects stand
out for him.
He is honoured to have been awarded
a Public Service Medal in 2019 for his work
in the Department of Education, reforming
the delivery of child-care payments through
a new IT system. The changes, which
involved thousands of childcare providers
and around a million families, changed the
subsidy arrangements for children in day care
and early childhood learning centres.
“That is one I am particularly proud of,
because the project was having trouble when
I joined the department,” Yannopoulos says.
While working in the Department
of Defence, Yannopoulos also rolled out
programs that delivered improvements
to HR, health and information management
systems, while a major enterprise resource
planning implementation helped the
department support the Royal Commission
into Defence and Veteran Suicide. He says
such projects have succeeded on the back
of strong governance, stakeholder
engagement and teamwork. They are
particularly rewarding for him personally
because of their difficulty to execute.
EVOLVING LEADERSHIP STYLE
Part diplomat, part pragmatist and part
strategist, Yannopoulos believes his people
skills and ability to offer informed, impartial
advice to everyone from a colleague to the
Prime Minister have been crucial. Less than
a year into the job, he is relishing the challenge.
“You get to participate in the government’s
most senior decision-making forums where
decisions about our future — whether that
is national security, social policy or economic
policy — are being made and your opinion
