Kylie is a long-term public servant, with most of her career spent in the federal government. She has a Commerce degree in Banking and Finance and Masters in Strategic Studies. Her roles have included the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defence, and head of the Cabinet Secretariat and the National Security Division in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Kylie was also the Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, and is currently head of the Ministerial and Parliamentary Services Division in the Department of Finance.
Kylie is married to James, happily settled in Canberra, and has two adult children. She is also great-aunt to 2 beautiful girls, Vivi and Sylvie, and it is through them – and their mum Naomi – that Kylie first came into contact with sarcoma and CRBF. Dr Matthew Fisher was Daddy to Vivi and Sylvie, and he fought an aggressive form of sarcoma for nearly a year.
“There is a real sense of grace when you spend time with someone who is fighting a cruel disease and then in their final days, and I will be forever grateful that we were able to support Matt and Naomi during this time. Matt’s cancer was so rare and aggressive it was hard to wrap our head it sometimes. I now understand that how many types of sarcoma there are, and that they are all unique, so each journey is different. It also makes treatment difficult and outcomes so precarious.
I would love to see some of the new treatments and research that Matt was so interested in, and couldn’t benefit from, have some impact on treatments and outcomes for those who will be diagnosed in the future.
I sadly never got to meet Cooper but to continue his work, and see Matt’s legacy have a positive impact, I feel I can honour the lives they led, and contribute to the work of CRBF in making sarcoma history.”