Claire Howlett grabs CIO role at Dept of the Environment

Claire Howlett has taken on her first CIO role, moving up the ranks at the Department of the Environment.

The former assistant secretary has replaced Al Blake, who left the department as CIO in January this year to undertake an analyst role at Ovum.

Howlett transitioned into the CIO role in November last year, and has more than 15 years of experience working in the government environment portfolio, where she was involved in policy development, program delivery, regulatory and corporate functions.

She started with an education background in law and history. She was Delegate of the Minister for the Environment, Water and Heritage before becoming assistant secretary role for the federal Department of the Environment in 2008.

In her former role, Howlett led teams looking after biodiversity policy, natural resource management programs, energy efficiency programs, corporate policy and budget strategy, marine policy and fisheries regulation.