The Director of the Australian Antarctic Division, Lyn Maddock, has announced her retirement to take effect from mid-June, 2011.

Ms Maddock, who was appointed early in 2009, said it has been a privilege to lead the Antarctic Division during the past couple of years.

“To be part of such a highly professional organisation, playing a very important role for Australia in Antarctica has been one of the highlights of my working life.

“I’ve been lucky enough to travel to all our stations and to several other nations’ stations in Antarctica continuing the tradition of strengthening international ties, a critical part of working and living in Antarctica,” Ms Maddock said.

Throughout her varied career Lyn Maddock has acquired skills and knowledge that, when viewed collectively, cut a logical path to the Director's seat at the Australian Antarctic Division.

After completing an economics degree at the University of Queensland, Lyn began her public sector career in the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and as a research economist at the Bureau of Roads. She then moved into a long career as a policy economist in the Prime Minister's Department, where she worked on microeconomic issues relating to transport, health and trade policy.

She stepped into the private sector briefly, with a stint in government relations at Westpac, before moving back to the public sector in the Productivity Commission's new Melbourne office. Here she conducted research into restrictive practices in the labour market, competitive tendering by the public sector, the Australian gas market, and developing and reporting on comparative performance indicators for states in areas such as courts, prisons, child protection, education and health.