Major General Elizabeth Cosson, AM, CSC (born 1958) served as Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs from 2018-2023.
Cosson graduated from the Army Command and Staff College at Fort Queenscliff in 1994 and the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies in 2005.
[22] She was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in the 2001 Australia Day Honours "for outstanding achievement as the Chief of Staff, Peace Monitoring Group, Bougainville, and in logistic planning and management of the Combat Force as the Staff Officer Grade One Logistics, Land Headquarters".
[citation needed] She served in the Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group of the Defence Department as the Director General Regions and Bases.
She is the second female to be promoted to two-star rank in the Australian Defence Force, the first being Air Vice Marshal Julie Hammer, who retired in 2005.
Cosson, as head of National Operations within the Defence Support Group, became responsible for the management of 80 ADF bases and garrisons across the country.
On 15 May 2006, following a meeting with the Victorian Coroner, she left a CD-ROM containing a draft copy of her report which was marked ‘secret’ in a public computer in the Qantas Club lounge of Melbourne Airport.