The department is the largest education system in Australia, operating 2,200 public schools for almost 800,000 students.

Mark’s career began as a teacher in Sydney. He built on his interest in education with senior policy and leadership positions with two NSW education ministers, Terry Metherell and Virginia Chadwick.

Mark held a number of senior editorial roles at Fairfax, including Education Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and Editor-in-Chief of metropolitan, regional and community newspapers.

From 2006 to 2016, Mark was Managing Director of the ABC and led the organisation’s transformation to be a public broadcaster in the digital era. Over that time, the ABC created new services like iview, News 24, ABC3 and digital radio; and expanded online and mobile services, such as podcasting and ABC News online.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Diploma of Education and a Master of Arts from the University of Sydney; and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.

Mark was named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2011. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Sydney, University of NSW and University of Technology Sydney.