Sally Dawkins commenced as Director in January 2022. In this role Sally leads the Department's engagement with its diverse stakeholders in Western Australia, including government, business, academia and the community.

Sally has served overseas with the Department in Geneva (United Nations), Paris, West Africa and most recently in Ankara, as Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Turkey. In Canberra, Sally has worked on a number of initiatives to support Australian businesses overseas, including the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, the Africa Down Under mining conference, and the Shanghai World Trade Expo. She has also worked as an Adviser to the Minister for International Development and the Pacific.

In 2017-19, Sally managed government relations and social investment for Newcrest Mining in Papua New Guinea, based in Port Moresby. In this role she sat as a Director of Newcrest’s subsidiary corporations, and represented Newcrest at the PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum.

Sally graduated with Honours in Bachelors of Laws and Arts from the University of Western Australia, and is an admitted solicitor. She speaks fluent French.