Deputy Commissioner
Vanessa Holben PSM was appointed as Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations for the Australian Border Force (ABF) on 2 February 2023.
Regional Operations comprises of North, East, South, West, and Onshore Detention. As Deputy Commissioner, Vanessa is responsible for the operational delivery encompassing traveller and cargo facilitation and intervention, Investigations, supply chain integrity, littoral fleet, district office functions and the immigration detention network.
Prior to this, Vanessa led Customs Group as the Deputy Comptroller General and Group Manager. She was responsible for ensuring Australia's customs and border policy settings allowed for the unimpeded movement of legitimate goods across the border, preventing the movement of prohibited goods, and detecting, deterring and disrupting criminal and national security threats at borders. Vanessa was also responsible for whole of agency ministerial, governance, risk and assurance functions to support and facilitate the ABF’s high-level governance framework, coordination of ministerial and parliamentary engagements and implementing the risk management framework and assurance program across the ABF.
Vanessa was the First Assistant Secretary of the National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) within the Department of Home Affairs. The NCM was established to coordinate and facilitate non-health response measures to the COVID-19 pandemic, through strategic and operational engagement with stakeholders across the Commonwealth, states and territories, industry and the private sector. Prior to this, Vanessa has held other senior executive roles in the ABF and Department of Home Affairs, including First Assistant Secretary Aviation and Maritime Security responsible for providing advice and assurance to Government on transport security policy, regulation, compliance and practice, and Assistant Commissioner responsible for offshore regional processing arrangements, regional capacity building efforts, and the onshore immigration detention network.
In January 2022, Vanessa was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) in recognition of her outstanding contributions in support of Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic while leading the NCM.
Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Criminology and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
