Alison was appointed as Deputy Secretary, Immigration within the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment in 2021 and leads Immigration New Zealand (INZ). INZ works hard to deliver immigration services that bring the right migrants and quota refugees to New Zealand, while remaining trusted stewards of New Zealand’s border.

Alison has a wealth of operational leadership experience from public service in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She served in a variety of leadership roles within the UK Civil Service at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for her work there.

Alison arrived in New Zealand in 2013 and spent three years at Te Kawa Mataaho (Public Service Commission) as Deputy Commissioner for Performance Improvement. She went on to roles as Director of the Customs 2020 Transformation Programme and Deputy Chief Executive, Services for Children and Families at Oranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children), before joining Immigration New Zealand.