Summary heading

 Sir Alan Westerman

Career within Commonwealth

 Alan Westerman was educated at Knox Grammar School (Sydney) and at the Universities of Tasmania, Melbourne and Columbia (New York). After World War II, he joined the Australian Trade Commissioner Service (1946-49) and subsequently held senior appointments in the Department of Commerce and Agriculture, as Director of Trade Promotion and International Trade Relations (1949-53) and First Assistant Secretary (1953-56); was Deputy Secretary in the Department of Trade (1956-58); and Chairman of the Tariff Board (1958-60).

 In 1960, Westerman succeeded Sir John Crawford as Secretary of the Department of Trade (1960-63) and, prior to his retirement from the Commonwealth Public Service, was Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (1963-71). Throughout this period Sir John McEwen, also Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Australian Country Party, held the trade portfolio. As permanent head of his department, Sir Alan was also a member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and the Export Development Council (1960-71) and the Manufacturing Industries Advisory Council (1962-71). Later in his career, he was the first Executive Chairman of the Australian Industry Development Corporation (1971-83), a member of the Australian Manufacturing Council (1978-81), Chairman of the Stevedoring Industry Consultative Council (1978-88) and a company director.

 Sir Alan Westerman was made a Commander in the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1962 and was knighted in 1963.

Links to other Commonwealth Persons

Publications

End notes

Sources

Commonwealth Government Directory (and its predecessors) - various editions

Tariff Board annual report 1957-58 (Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, No 53 of 1958, p 33) and 1959-60 (Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, No 61 of 1960, p 24)

Who’s Who in Australia 1971 (pp 954-5) and 1995 (p 1559)