Who we are
Our department is made up of 5,000 highly skilled and experienced people. We have over 200 offices across regional NSW and Sydney.
Almost 80 per cent of our staff live in regional NSW. We contribute to life in regional communities. We work on rural farms, with regional businesses and in regional industries.
Our approach is collaborative and evidence based. We form partnerships across communities, industry and government to ensure the best possible outcomes for people in regional areas.
We value strategic thinking and problem-solving. We aim to build thriving communities for generations to come.
Visit Careers if you’d like to be part of our regional NSW team.
Visit What we do for more about our department's functions.
Our structure
Led by our Secretary, Rebecca Fox and supported by an experienced leadership team, our department's Minister oversees the cluster.
See our organisation chart (PDF 56.97KB)
Our Ministers
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The Hon. Tara Moriarty MLC
- Minister for Agriculture
- Minister for Regional New South Wales
- Minister for Western New South Wales
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The Hon. Ryan Park MP
- Minister for the Illawarra and South Coast
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The Hon. Courtney Houssos MLC
- Minister for Natural Resources
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The Hon. Rose Jackson MLC
- Minister for Youth
- Minster for the North Coast
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The Hon. Yasmin Maree Catley
- Minister for the Hunter
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The Hon. David Harris MP
- Minister for the Central Coast
Meet our leadership team
The Department of Regional NSW's leadership team works to achieve the best outcomes for people in regional NSW. Our team is:
collectively responsible for leading the organisation
individually accountable for their (section’s) strategic and operational activities.
Rebecca Fox, Secretary, Department of Regional NSW
Secretary of the Department of Regional NSW since August 2022, Rebecca has had a diverse career in the public sector, corporate environments and small business.
She joined Property NSW’s Strategy team in 2015 and became the first woman to lead Public Works in 2019. Her career in the public sector continued as she was appointed as Deputy Secretary, Regional NSW in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. Rebecca then went on to lead the newly formed Strategy, Delivery and Performance Group on the creation of the Department of Regional NSW. At the end of 2020, Rebecca led a procurement reform initiative in NSW Treasury and returned to Regional NSW to lead the Regional Precincts Group, responsible for the $4.2 billion Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund.
Rebecca has academic qualifications in Economics, Law, and Bioethics. Rebecca originally hails from Condobolin NSW. Her experience growing up and living in regional NSW has been invaluable in her role as Secretary for the Department of Regional NSW.
See our message from Rebecca Fox on our What we do page.
James Bolton, Deputy Secretary, Regional Precincts
James joined the Regional Precincts Group when it was formed in 2021 and is responsible for the delivery of several key infrastructure projects across the State.
Since joining the NSW Government in 2018, James has demonstrated his ability to provide strategic leadership, work collaboratively across Government and manage complex projects including the Special Activation Precincts program funded by the Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund.
Prior to working with the NSW Government, James worked in a variety of senior roles in local government over an 11-year period including economic development, major projects, strategy, community and commercial developments.
Before returning to his hometown of Wagga Wagga in 2007, James studied and worked in Canberra, Sydney and London.
James is passionate about driving whole of government approaches to regional issues and ensuring the people of regional NSW have the appropriate support, services, and infrastructure to live a great quality of life.
Sean Sloan, A/Director-General, Department of Primary Industries
Sean has more than 25 years’ management experience and has held senior positions in government at both Commonwealth and State levels, and in the Pacific Islands.
As the Acting Director-General of NSW Department of Primary Industries, Sean is accountable for serving regional NSW communities and providing strong leadership and stewardship in the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors, as well as biosecurity, food safety, animal welfare and hunting.
In his prior role of Deputy Director-General, Fisheries, Sean was responsible for fisheries and aquaculture management and development, policy, scientific research, monitoring and marine environment management. He was also responsible for the NSW Shark Management Program, compliance monitoring, community education, awareness, enforcement, leasing and licensing.
Among his many achievements, Sean led the development of national guidelines for fishery harvest strategies, which have been adopted by all Australian jurisdictions. He is also Chair of the Australian Fisheries Management Forum and Chair of the National Fisheries Compliance Committee. Sean holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc), Fishing and Fisheries Science Management from the University of Tasmania. He has a Graduate Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Jonathan Wheaton, A/Deputy Secretary, Regional Development Group
Jonathan has over 20 years executive-level leadership, management and frontline experience with the NSW Government specialising in community and economic development, project and program delivery probity and governance, cross-agency and cross-jurisdiction collaboration, and community and council engagement.
Jonathan is currently the Acting Deputy Secretary of the Regional Development Group which is the government’s key regional advisory, coordination and delivery team that ensures sustainable and strategic investments in regional communities. The Regional Development team takes a whole of government approach and focuses on four streams of work:
- Sustainable regional industries, including emerging and engine industries
- Aboriginal economic development and enterprise
- Community infrastructure and capacity building
- Improving regional service delivery, including cross border communities
Jonathan lives in Woonona with his partner Anna and three kids Daphne, George and Josie and is a rugby tragic.
Steve Orr, CEO, Local Land Services
Steve commenced in his current role as Chief Executive Officer of Local Lands Services in early 2022, where he leads over 900 staff members who work alongside landowners, helping to secure the future of agriculture and the environment for NSW communities.
Steve was previously responsible for overseeing the Regional NSW corporate functions which include People, Finance, ICT, Legal and Governance. Prior to this Steve was responsible for the Regional Coordination and Regional Development functions within the former Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) which also included a significant role in the economic recovery efforts surrounding bushfires and the response to drought focusing on small communities, young people and businesses.
Before moving into DPIE Steve was the Executive Director, Regional NSW in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and prior to this he was the Executive Director, Local Government Reform responsible for the Government’s program of consolidating the number of councils in NSW.
Steve has also held roles as the Deputy Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government and the Chief Executive of the NSW Livestock Health and Pest Authorities. In 2018/19 he participated in the nine month Leadership Academy for senior executives run by the Public Service Commission, Steve holds a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University, Bachelor or Applied Science with Honours from the University of Western Sydney, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Steve lives in Berry on the south coast with his wife Leanne, sons Sam and Patrick and daughter Rachael and is mastering the art of growing his own vegetables.
Georgina Beattie, CEO, Mining, Exploration and Geoscience
With a strong background in Public Sector leadership, strategy, reform and industry development, Georgina brings a wealth of leadership experience to the Mining, Exploration and Geoscience (MEG) group.
As leader of the MEG group, Ms Beattie oversees decisions about the State’s mineral and petroleum resources, investment in the sector, the policy and strategic framework for exploration and mining in NSW, effective regulation and the acquisition and analysis of geoscientific data
Georgina joined MEG in early 2021 after a broad career driving economic development in NSW. Prior to joining MEG she held leadership roles in regional economic development in the NSW Government and has strong relationships with industry and community stakeholders.
Georgina is committed to deliver reform and initiatives that will boost exploration and mining investment safely and sustainably, with a strong focus on customer service
Fiona Dewar, Deputy Secretary, Corporate & Performance
Fiona is a senior public sector executive with a depth of leadership experience in operations, policy and communications.
As Deputy Secretary of Corporate and Performance, Fiona works across all groups in the Department of Regional NSW and with other Government agencies to provide strategic leadership and delivery of critical enabling services.
Fiona has worked across the public and private sector in a range of fields including the arts and creative industries, agriculture, vocational education, natural resources management, regional development and Indigenous Affairs.
Fiona previously held Deputy Secretary Strategy, Corporate and Performance and Executive Director roles within the Department of Regional NSW, the Office of Drought Response and the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Fiona has strong experience engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities having spent five years working at a specialist Indigenous affairs consulting firm.
Fiona grew up on a wheat and beef cattle property in Moree NSW and is passionate about rural and regional issues.