On Thursday 25 September 2025, IPAA Queensland welcomed the public purpose community to the final instalment of our Stewards on the Couch series for 2025.

Sally Stannard, Director-General of the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), took to the couch for a conversation about leadership, public service, Sally’s vision for Queensland’s integrated transport system and the challenges of public leadership.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Sally’s trusted colleague and confidant, Anne Moffat, Chief Operations Officer at TMR, attendees heard more about the career of one of Queensland’s trusted and respected senior public leaders. As CEO of a complex portfolio with more than 6,500 staff and a total budget of $15.8 billion, Sally leads one of the state’s largest and most diverse portfolios, one that almost all citizens engage with daily (from roads to rail, buses to bikes, and boats to feet).

With a professional background in civil and environmental engineering, Sally is passionate about the role of transport for achieving equity, sustainability and economic growth across Queensland, including in both the cities and regions.

Attendees heard about Sally’s leadership values and approach, and what motivates Sally to lead the many varied and competing demands of Sally’s significant public sector portfolio.

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As Director-General, Sally Stannard leads the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR). Sally was appointed as Director-General in 2023 after acting in the role since 4 June 2023.

In this role Sally oversees TMR’s delivery of transport services and infrastructure, the shaping of current and future transport systems, and management of the State’s transport regulation, marine and road safety functions.

TMR has approximately 6850 staff and an annual budget of $15.8 billion, including capital expenditure of $6.3 billion and managed assets worth in excess of $136 billion. TMR’s network also includes 33,000km of state-controlled road, service contracts worth over $2 Billion per annum and important rail, bus, cycling and maritime infrastructure.

In Sally’s previous role as the Deputy Director-General (Translink), Sally led the delivery of customer-focused passenger transport services across Queensland including policy, planning, ticketing, contract management and customer services.

Sally is the Chair of Cross River Rail and Chair of Public Transport Association Australia New Zealand. Sally is also a board member of Roads Australia. Sally holds qualifications in Engineering and International Studies and is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Sally is passionate about the role transport plays in equitable and sustainable economic development of our cities and regions.

Stewards on the Couch is a regular and highly popular feature of IPAA’s annual event program, where one or more chief executives sit down for an informal, conversational-style interview.

These events provide the IPAA community an opportunity to learn more about the influences, priorities, and core values of stewards leading public purpose work along with the key challenges and opportunities facing their organisation and/or sector. Guests are invited to stay for networking and refreshments after the interview.