Our Director-General

Neil Scales

Director-General
Department of Transport and Main Roads

As Director-General, Neil leads the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), with an Operating Budget of $5.810 billion, Capital Budget of $2.804 billion and managed Assets worth $76.226 billion.

Neil joined the Queensland Public Service in March 2012 as CEO of TransLink where he was responsible for the public transport network across Queensland. He was appointed Director-General of TMR in March 2013.

In September 2014, Neil became Commissioner for the National Transport Commission and joined the Roads Australia Board in November 2014. Neil is Chair of Austroads, Deputy Chair for the Australian Road Research Board and board member for the Queensland Police-Citizens Youth Welfare Association. He is also a board member of the Queensland Transport and Logistics Council, Tourism and Transport Forum, Roads Australia and the Australian Centre for Rail Innovation.

Since 2015, Neil has been the Queensland Public Sector’s CEO Champion against domestic and family violence by participating in Australia’s CEO Challenge Race.

In September 2014, Neil became Government Champion for the Woorabinda Indigenous community.

Neil became Acting Chief Executive Officer for Queensland Rail in October 2016, returning to the Director-General role at TMR in April 2017.

Work experience

Prior to joining TransLink, Neil was one of the United Kingdom’s most senior public transport executives. He was Chief Executive and Director-General of Merseytravel, the transport authority for Merseyside in the north of England.

In this role, he was responsible for some 200 million passenger journeys every year by train, bus and ferries and the 2 Mersey Tunnels. He is credited for reversing the fortunes of Merseytravel, which is now recognised as one of the best transport authorities in the UK.

Neil has held executive roles with transport and engineering companies and has consultancy experience with several agencies, including the World Bank and the European Commission.

Neil has also been a manufacturer of vehicles and acted as an expert witness.