Pat Lanigan

Patrick Joseph "Pat" Lanigan OBE (1925 – 1992) was a senior Australian public servant and administrator.

Pat Lanigan

OBE
Secretary of the Department of Social Security
In office
19 August 1977 – 23 April 1981
Personal details
Born
Patrick Joseph Lanigan

(1925-02-20)20 February 1925
North Fitzroy, Victoria
Died1992 (aged 67)
Turkey
Nationality Australian
Spouse(s)Margaret
ChildrenSandra, Melissa, Peter and Amanda
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
Australian National University
OccupationPublic servant

Life and career

Pat Lanigan was born on 20 February 1925 in North Fitzroy, Victoria,[1] the son of a Victorian Railways worker.[2] He was raised in Hampton, Victoria, attending the St Kilda Christian Brothers College and later the University of Melbourne.[3]

Between September 1943 and December 1946, during World War II, Lanigan served in the 2/5th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, in New Guinea.[1][2]

Lanigan joined the Australian Public Service in the Australian Taxation Office in 1950 when he was 25 years of age.[3]

In 1958, on 24 April, he married Margaret Cynthia Lanigan and they had four children: Sandra, Melissa, Peter and Amanda. There are three grandchildren: Ella, Finn and Luca.

Between 1977 and 1981 Lanigan was Secretary of the Department of Social Security.[4] During his time at the head of the department he made control of benefits abuses a high priority.[5] Lanigan was managing the department when he heard allegations that eight medical practitioners and at least 500 persons of Greek background were involved in rorts costing the department revenue of between $2.5 million and $5 million per year.[5] In response the department conducted controversial and disastrous dragnet raids,[3][5] and Lanigan's career suffered due to the scandal.[3][5]

Lanigan died of a heart-attack in Turkey in 1992, aged 67.[3]

Awards

Lanigan was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in June 1976 for his public service.[6]

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References
  1. Service Record: Lanigan, Patrick Joseph, Commonwealth of Australia, 2002, archived from the original on 23 April 2014
  2. Andrews, Ross (1 March 1981). "Lanigan: the man and his methods". The Canberra Times. p. 7.
  3. Waterford, Jack (7 October 1992). "Obituary: Patrick Lanigan- An extraordinary life's journey". The Canberra Times. p. 4.
  4. CA 1482: Department of Social Security, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 22 April 2014
  5. Grabosky, P.N. (1989), "Chapter 6: The great social security conspiracy case", Wayward governance : illegality and its control in the public sector, Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, pp. 93–112, ISBN 0 642 14605 5
  6. Search Australian Honours: LANIGAN, Patrick Joseph, Australian Government, archived from the original on 22 April 2014
Government offices
Preceded by
Laurie Daniels		 Secretary of the Department of Social Security
1977 – 1981		 Succeeded by
Tony Ayers


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