Jaala Hinchcliffe
Secretary
Department of Parliamentary Services
Ms Jaala Hinchcliffe was appointed by the Presiding Officers as the Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services on 11 March 2025 for a 5-year term.
This formal appointment followed a period of 5 months when she was the acting Secretary of the department.
Prior to this Jaala worked as the Integrity Commissioner and agency head at the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI). The ACLEI was later subsumed into the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). During this transition, Jaala was appointed as an interim Deputy Commissioner providing continuity and support for ACLEI staff and stakeholders while the NACC was established.
Jaala has also worked as the Deputy Commonwealth Ombudsman. She spent a significant amount of time earlier in her career in senior executive roles with the department as well as with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Before her senior executive roles, Jaala had an extensive career as a lawyer specialising in Commonwealth criminal law with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Jaala has also held several board positions and is a member of Australian Institute of Company Directors. She was a member of the National Executive of the Australian Institute for Administrative Law for 3 years from 2018 and was a founding member of the APS Academy Faculty for the Craft of Integrity from 2021-2023.
Jaala has degrees in Laws and Arts from the Australian National University.
