Bureaucrats in Canberra are expecting a shake-up of top jobs, with the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) expected to be replaced due to her role in the robodebt scandal.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to appoint several new secretaries to run key government departments in the coming days.
Australia's ambassador to Japan, Jan Adams, is the leading candidate to become the nation's top diplomat as the next secretary of DFAT.
The head of the Defence Department, Greg Moriarty, had been tipped to take on the role, but it is understood Defence Minister Richard Marles would prefer him to stay in his current role.
The current secretary of DFAT, Kathryn Campbell, has only been in the job for a year, having been appointed by the former Coalition government in July 2021.
But Labor was unimpressed with her appointment at the time, given she oversaw the rollout of the controversial robodebt program as the secretary of the Department of Social Services.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has previously indicated she would prefer DFAT to be led by someone with a diplomatic background.
A shift to lead a smaller department has been mooted as an alternative role for Ms Campbell.
Likely new DFAT boss previously worked closely with Wong
Prior to being stationed in Tokyo, Ms Adams served as Australia's ambassador to China and she has an extensive background in trade and international environmental policy.
She recently accompanied Senator Wong at a meeting of the Quad in Japan, just days after the Albanese government was elected to power.
The pair worked closely together when Labor was last in power. Senator Wong was the climate change minister and Ms Adam was Australia's ambassador for climate change as the then-Rudd government pushed for a more ambitious approach to global emissions reductions at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009.
Mr Albanese is also expected to announce new heads of the Department of Finance and the Department of Health, with the incumbents, Rosemary Huxtable and Brendan Murphy, retiring.
Recruitment for someone to lead the newly formed super department covering climate change, energy, the environment and water has also been underway.
The new appointments are expected to be confirmed in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Mr Albanese has already appointed Glyn Davis, the former vice-chancellor of University of Melbourne, to head the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
