Jeroen Weimar was born in the Netherlands and raised in the UK, where he began his career in management consulting before migrating to Australia. Weimar’s professional life has been built on understanding and managing the movement of people and resolving logistical roadblocks. In Australia, he is best known as the commander of Victoria’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Having spent years as a leading transport planner in Britain – including as chief operating officer (policing and enforcement) at Transport for London and chief operating officer for the First Group bus services across the UK – in 2015 Weimar took up an executive role within Public Transport Victoria (PTV), quickly rising to become its chief executive.
With degrees in economics and urban planning from the London School of Economics, Weimar has also served as Head of Transport Services at the Department of Transport and chief executive of VicRoads.
Victoria’s Covid-19 Commander
In mid-2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, the limitations of Victoria’s contact tracing systems were becoming clear. When daily cases reached 119 on 7 July, Jeroen Weimar and several others were headhunted to help turn things around.
As Victoria’s Covid-19 response commander Weimar was responsible for managing and overseeing the state’s vaccination roll-out and contact tracing program. A demanding brief, but Weimar excelled in the role.
Weimar became a familiar face for Victorians as he stood alongside Premier Daniel Andrews and Chief Health Officer, Professor Brett Sutton, at the daily Covid press conferences. His clear-cut communication style and calm demeanor – described by The Age as a “kind wartime general presence” – offered reassurance to Victorians in uncertain times, so much so that his image featured on Covid-inspired merchandise.
Post-pandemic career
Weimar stepped down as Victoria’s Covid-19 response commander in the first half 2022. He subsequently worked as CEO of the 2026 Commonwealth Games organising committee for about a year from July 2023, until Premier Daniel Andrews announced Victoria would no longer host the sporting competition. Following the redundancy of his Games Committee position Weimar worked in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, in the housing portfolio. In 2025 he began a new role as Secretary of the Department of Transport and Planning.
Additional sources
- Jeroen Weimar’s LinkedIn profile
- Jeroen Weimar’s Infrastructure Victoria profile
- Tom Burton, “Meet Victoria’s new contact tracing chief”, Australian Financial Review, 11 October 2020
- Libby Curran, “A New Line of Merch Dedicated to Victoria’s COVID-19 Response Commander Jeroen Weimar Has Been Released”, Concrete Playground, 19 July 2021
- Heath Parkes-Hupton, “Victorian Covid commander Jeroen Weimar laughs off ‘poster boy’ status”, News.com.au, 19 July 2021
- Bianca Hall, “Jeroen Weimar: From ‘trainspotter’ to Victoria’s COVID-19 commander”, The Age, 29 August 2021
- Richard Willingham and Leanne Wong, “Victoria’s COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar is stepping down“, ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 21 April 2022
- Hon. Jacinta Allan MP, “Statement from the Premier”, State Government of Victoria, 13 December 2024
See also: More personal stories
