James Richard Collins CMG CBE (14 March 1869 – 18 June 1934) was a senior Australian public servant, best known for his time as head of the Department of the Treasury James Collins was born on 14 March 1869 in Sebastopol, Victoria.

[1] Collins joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1901, having before federation assisted to prepare the Victorian colonial budget in 1893 and in 1900 organising and running the first Victorian Old Age Pensions Office.

[1] Between 1916 and 1926, Collins was the Secretary of the Australian Government Department of the Treasury.

That same year he also traveled to Brussels as the sole Australian delegate to the 1920 International Financial Conference.

[2] In 1926, Collins was appointed financial advisor to the Australian Government in London.