Sophie Sharpe was appointed as Deputy Secretary Executive, Department of Home Affairs in November 2022.
Sophie leads the Group responsible for providing direct support to the Secretary of Home Affairs and Home Affairs portfolio ministers. The Executive Group's functions include parliamentary and cabinet support, media and communication, international partnerships, intelligence policy, data and economic analysis, enterprise performance, risk and governance, inquiries coordination, strategic policy, planning and coordination, and strengthening Australia's democracy and social cohesion.
Prior to her role as Deputy Secretary Executive, Sophie held the roles of Group Manager Executive and International, First Assistant Secretary Executive Division, and Chief of Staff to the Secretary in the Department.
Sophie was also the Assistant Secretary, Strategic Coordination in the Counter-Terrorism Coordination Centre in the Department of Home Affairs and Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) where she was responsible for advising on counter-terrorism strategic policy, operations, legislative measures and intelligence and facilitating international counter-terrorism cooperation.
Before joining the Department in 2017, Sophie had been with PM&C since 2009 where she was also the Executive Officer to the then Secretary, Dr Martin Parkinson and the Senior Adviser responsible for counter-terrorism, border security and law enforcement. In 2014-15 Sophie enjoyed accompanying her husband on posting to Washington DC, where she worked for the Department of Defence and Australian Federal Police (AFP). Sophie has also previously held various national security roles in the AFP's Counter-Terrorism, Law Enforcement Cooperation Program and Specialist Response and Security areas. Sophie has also worked in the Attorney-General's Department on counter-terrorism policy and programs.
Sophie has a Bachelor in Asian Studies (specialising in Bahasa Indonesia).
