Mr Anderson was appointed as the Commonwealth Ombudsman from 1 August 2022 for a 5-year term. As the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Mr Anderson is also the ACT, Defence Force, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Private Health Insurance, Overseas Student, VET Student Loan and Postal Industry Ombudsman.

As a senior public servant with extensive leadership experience and over 31 years of service, Mr Anderson has developed and implemented transformational change across a wide range of legal and social policy areas, including the Commonwealth civil justice and criminal justice systems, family law, native title, Royal Commissions and Australia’s territories.

Mr Anderson’s experience extends across a variety of Commonwealth departments and agencies and across a wide range of legal and social policy areas. Mr Anderson has worked in 6 different Commonwealth departments and agencies. Having appeared over 100 times before parliamentary committees, Mr Anderson also represented Australia at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Affairs and led Australia’s delegation to the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF).

Mr Anderson holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney. His experience in the Australian Public Service has included roles with the Australian Government Solicitor, the Australian Customs Service, the Australian Taxation Office and the Attorney-General’s Department. He has acted as Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department for an extended period and was also previously the Department’s Chief Operating Officer.