The chair of one of Australia’s biggest super funds, Dr Don Russell, will soon take on a major new role in the public service, heading up the Federal Government’s main scientific research and innovation arm.

Dr Russell, chair of the $30 billion NSW State Super, has been appointed to the helm of the Department of Innovation Industry and Science.
As the department secretary, he will oversee a department that includes the CSIRO and AusIndustry, which delivers $2 billion of business innovation programs annually across areas as diverse as climate change, manufacturing, energy and fuels and small business.
Russell has held several senior positions in the public service, including as principal adviser to former Treasurer and Prime Minister Paul Keating.
Before this appointment, he was a senior executive in the Federal Department of the Treasury in the 1980s – an era of key economic reform that included the floating of the Australian dollar and the deregulation of the country’s financial system.
He was also Australia’s Ambassador to the United States and has held a range of senior roles in the financial sector.
Russell was appointed to the board of State Super in 2008.