Letitia Hope commenced as the Deputy Secretary for the Department of Social Services on 6 March 2023. Letitia leads the Families and Communities Stream. She is a proud Bundjalung (Northern Rivers NSW), Torres Strait Islander and South Pacific Islander woman.
Letitia moved to DSS from the National Indigenous Australians Agency where she was the Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the Policy and Programs portfolio. She has driven many key national service delivery responses and strategic policy approaches including her role in the Black Summer Bush Fires response; the National COVID-19 response, led the Voice co-design Process, the implementation of the Closing the Gap National Agreement and more recently the delivery of the current governments policy agenda for Indigenous Australians including implementing the Uluru Statement of the Heart in full.
Over the past 30 years, Letitia has had a wide and varied career working across Commonwealth and State governments in both mainstream and specialised social policy development, program management and human service delivery, housing, primary and allied health, aged care and community services including working in Veterans Affairs and Indigenous Affairs. Letitia has held various Senior Executive roles across central and line agencies, service delivery departments, portfolio bodies and cultural institutions.
Letitia holds a deep rooted and demonstrated commitment to delivering the art and science of excellence in public sector leadership and management, serving the government of the day impartially with diligence and forging community-led, codesign and citizen centric approaches.
Letitia is a council member of the APS Deputy Secretary Talent Council, an inaugural member of the Australian Public Service Academy Faculty and a board and council member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (ACT).
Letitia holds an Executive Masters of Public Administration through the Australian National University, a Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management through RMIT University; and graduated as a Senior Executive Fellows from the Harvard Kennedy Business School.