Chris Pirie
comprehensive
editorial services
clarity
flexibility
experience
flexibility
experience
profile
Beginning her career with a division of News Limited, she moved from writer to sub-editor, editor, production editor and managing editor within two years.
From 1984 to 2016 Chris freelanced in Canberra; she now works from the Far South Coast of New South Wales. Apart from being responsible for editorial standards and production to print-ready stage of hundreds of government reports, she has specific expertise in dealing with multi-author works. Among her diverse subject areas are civil–military collaboration, administrative law, superannuation, veterans’ affairs, health, and climate and the environment.
Chris was appointed one of the principal writers and editors for the sixth (current) edition of the Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers; this two-year project involved writing four chapters, rewriting a number of others, and editing almost all the manual. She has also written numerous other style guides.
Among Chris’s other career highlights has been editing the reports of many royal commissions and similar inquiries—demanding, fascinating and rewarding work.
An inaugural assessor for the Institute of Professional Editors accreditation scheme, Chris was awarded the descriptor DE (Distinguished Editor) in 2008.
Style: proper words in
services
Australian Standards for Editing Practice (Institute of Professional Editors
2013, 2nd edn) describes the primary tasks associated with substantive editing,
copy editing and proofreading.
Having had the opportunity selected projects
Following is a brief listing of some of the many projects Chris has been responsible for over the years:
The Economic and Social Impacts of Water Trading
the National Wildlife Corridors Plan
Managing Natural Resources in Rural Australia for a Sustainable Future
State of the Nation
Benchmarking Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Australia
University Research: policy considerations for promoting Australia’s competitiveness
annual reports, product descriptions and disclosure statements
Growth Fetish, Affluenza and The Freedom Paradox
art books (Brett Whiteley, Ian Fairweather, Fred Williams, Art Deco), memoirs and family histories
dietary guidelines—for older Australians, Australian adults, and Australian children and adolescents
clinical guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents
the Timor-Leste Family Study and the Vietnam Veterans Family Study
Assistive Health Technologies for Independent Living
Encouraging Quality Pathology Ordering in Australia’s Public Hospitals
the plans of management for Uluru – Kata Tjuta and Kakadu National Parks
the National Indigenous Australians’ Sexual Health Strategy
The Yuendumu Doors
national strategies for forests, coasts, oceans and biodiversity
national HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C strategies
the National Drug Strategic Framework
all supporting reports for the Tasmania–Commonwealth Regional Forest Agreement
the review of the Commonwealth efficiency dividend and the shared-services review
a series of best-practice guides to administrative decision making
The Coercive Decision-making Powers of Government Agencies
Automated Assistance in Administrative Decision Making
the HIH, Oil-for-Food, Family Violence and Black Saturday Fires Royal Commissions
more fires—the Coroner’s inquest and inquiry into the ‘Canberra firestorm’ of 18 January 2003, the McLeod inquiry into the 2003 fires in the ACT, and the Council of Australian Governments inquiry into bushfire mitigation and management in Australia
inquiries into the Cornelia Rau, Vivian Alvarez and Mohamed Haneef matters, the Centenary House lease, the equine influenza outbreak of 2007, the sinking of HMAS Sydney II, and events on HMAS Success in early 2009
contributor to the Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers — fourth, fifth and sixth editions
contributor to the Defence Writing Manual
author of guides for, among others, the HIH and Oil-for-Food Royal Commissions, MTAA Super, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, and the National Museum of Australia.
contact
comprehensive editorial services
0407 483 073
cpirie@netspeed.com.au
and proficient job you did
in editing our report. You
forced us to be much
clearer in our thinking
and more precise in our
expression. And you did it
all with such good grace.
With the tight deadline,
we knew we needed someone
highly professional and
unflappable …