William Cole (public servant)


Sir Robert William Cole was a senior Australian public servant. He held secretary-level positions in four departments or agencies during the Fraser Government and Hawke Government years.

Biography

Cole was born in 1926. He began his public-service career at the age of 15 as a telegraph messenger. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II, and after the war's end completed a commerce degree at the University of Melbourne.
After graduating, Cole briefly worked in the Department of Supply, and then in 1952 moved to Canberra to work as a research officer in the Department of the Treasury. He was seconded to the International Monetary Fund in 1957 and worked in Washington, D.C., until 1959, when he returned to the Treasury. He was director of the Bureau of Transport Economics from 1970 to 1972, and then took on various senior roles:
Cole was knighted in the 1981 New Year Honours.