Joshua Puls

Assistant Official Secretary, Office of the Governor Joshua Puls has been the Assistant Official Secretary in the Office of the Governor of Victoria since 2008. Prior to this appointment he was a civilian Honorary Aide to the Governor and an Aide to Victorian Governors Sir James Gobbo and John Landy in 2000 and 2001. Joshua graduated from the University of Melbourne with honours degrees in Law and Arts before commencing his professional career as a lawyer at Freehills, Melbourne where he worked in planning and environment law, litigation and industrial relations. He was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1998.
Following his time at Freehills, Joshua studied for his Graduate Diploma in Education at the Australian Catholic University, after which he took up a position in a Melbourne secondary college as a teacher and student counsellor. In this time he completed his registration as a psychologist with the Psychologists’ Registration Board of Victoria. He was also appointed by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority as an examiner for the Victorian Certificate of Education. In 2003 Joshua was appointed Special Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University. Having obtained a Graduate Diploma in Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity, he also held a role in the chaplaincy program at Newman College, the Jesuit residential college in the University of Melbourne. His role at ACU later expanded to include Executive Officer with responsibility for establishing the University’s Institute of Legal Studies. Between 2007 and 2010 he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Australian Catholic University. Between 2005 and 2008 Joshua worked at Victoria’s Department of Premier and Cabinet. At DPC he led a team of policy advisers in providing advice to the Premier and Secretary in relation to public administration, governance and whole of government coordination. In February 2008 Joshua was appointed Senior Adviser to the Secretary of DPC, Terry Moran AO, prior to Mr Moran’s appointment as Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. He then continued as Senior Advisor to the new Secretary, Ms Helen Silver, before his appointment to the Office of the Governor. In 2006 Joshua was awarded a Premier’s Scholarship to undertake the Executive Master of Public Administration program at the Australia New Zealand School of Government. Joshua was President of the Victorian team, Melbourne Ice, in the Australian Ice Hockey League for four years before being named Patron of the team in 2010.