Clare Sharp PSM was appointed as Deputy Secretary Legal Group in December 2024 and joined the Department in June 2023, as the Group Manager, Legal Group.
As Deputy Secretary Legal Group, Clare performs the role of General Counsel for the Department of Home Affairs, leading the department’s Legal Group in advising on a broad range of migration, citizenship, customs and national security matters. The Group also delivers privacy, FOI and records functions.
Clare started her career at Ashurst, working primarily in commercial law on a series of complex government outsourcing projects and completing several secondments, including with the then Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Department of Defence, Department of Human Services and Airservices Australia.
Clare then took on several senior roles in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, leading policy and program delivery in the Indigenous Australians and skills and training portfolios. This included roles in Indigenous economic and business development, establishing new agencies in the skills portfolio, Commonwealth-State financial arrangements for the VET sector, adult literacy and numeracy and apprenticeship policy and programs.
In June 2025, Clare was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) in recognition for her exemplary leadership and delivery in her role as Home Affairs General Counsel including her exceptional contribution and commitment to the legal profession, the Department and the Australian Public Service during high-profile, complex legal matters will leave a lasting legacy on the migration system.
Clare holds a Bachelor of Laws (first class honours) and a Bachelor of Arts (specialising in political science and English literature) from the Australian National University, and was admitted as a solicitor to the Supreme Court of the ACT in 2006.
