Last month Michael Simon took up the position of Director of Human Resources in the Anglican Diocesan Services (ADS) office. Taking over from the excellent legacy of Robert Wallace, Michael said this position is something of a ‘homecoming experience’ as he has had a long association with the diocese having been raised in a clergy family where his father served as Rector of parishes such as Batlow, Tarcutta, Narooma and Pearce.
Michael says that Anglicanism is in his blood as his grandfather was the Anglican bishop of Bathurst, his great grandfather was an Anglican missionary in India and a parish priest in Victoria, and both his father and cousin are ordained Anglican priests. At one point he too contemplated ordination and this led him to study a Master of Arts in Theology from Regent College in Vancouver, Canada.
On returning to Australia, he worked for Information Technology companies such as Fujitsu, Compaq, Hewlett Packard and NCSI Australia in the Optus Company. During this time he completed a Master of Commerce in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at Sydney University. He then became the first Human Resource Manager at Trinity Grammar School in Summer Hill. In 2013 he moved, with his family, to Canberra to take up the role of Human Resource Manager at Canberra Grammar School, a position which he held for over seven years. More recently, Michael was the Director of People and Culture at the Communities@ Work organisation.
Since 2017 he has served on the diocesan Professional Standards Reference Group and he serves as Rector’s Warden and Chair of the Parish Council at the Good Shepherd Church in the Parish of Curtin. Prior to coming to Canberra Michael also served as Rector’s Warden for several years at Newtown Erskineville Anglican Church.
As he takes up the role, he is very much looking forward to connecting and working with leadership of Anglicare, the Riverina Anglican College, St Peter’s Anglican College, Sapphire Coast Anglican College, the Anglican School Googong, Anglican Investment and Development Fund, and St Mark’s National Theological Centre, parishes, chaplaincies, and other ministry units, which are all the organisations the ADS serves.
Michael will oversee the Payroll and Human Resource Management teams. He sees the role of those teams being to partner with all ADS organisations to be the best they can be. ‘Making the connection between Human Resources and the diocese’s mission is not hard,’ says Michael. ‘God’s work is people focused, and so is Human Resources,’ he claims.
As he starts the role he seeks the prayers of those in the diocese for him and his teams that they may serve faithfully, with wisdom and a desire for excellence. Finally he says, ‘if ministry units have Human Resource questions or a need for support in their various areas, do pick up the phone or email. We would love to help.’
