Background | Summary of name changes | Health Ministers | Outer Ministries | Parliamentary Secretaries | Heads of the Department from 1921 to the present | Deputy Heads of the Department from 1956 to the present | Chief Medical Officers | History fact sheets and posters | Putting Life into Years | General Information on the history of health, medical discoveries and illnesses
Background
The Department of Health was established in 1921 and has since undergone a number of changes in its name, function and structure.
The first change was in 1987 when the Department of Health was merged with the Department of Community Services to form the Department of Community Services and Health.
The Department of Health, Housing and Community Services was then formed in June 1991, reflecting the transfer of housing industry programs from the Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce to the Department of Community Services and Health.
In March 1993 the Department of Local Government joined with the Department of Health, Housing and Community Services to form the Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services. Subsequently, in 1994, the Department's name was changed to the Department of Human Services and Health.
When a new government was elected in March 1996, the department's name changed to the Department of Health and Family Services. At this time, it gained responsibility for the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program from the former Department of Housing and Regional Development.
The department later assumed responsibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health matters from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
After the October 1998 election, the department's name changed to the Department of Health and Aged Care to reflect its new responsibilities and functions. Responsibility for Family and Children's Services, Disability Programs and the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service were transferred to the Department of Family and Community Services on 22 October 1998.
Following the November 2001 election, Department of Health and Aged Care became the Department of Health and Ageing. The portfolio also gained the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service from the Department of Family and Community Services.
Following the September 2013 election, it became the Department of Health. The administration of ageing research, active ageing policy other than employment, and aged care services transferred to the Department of Social Services. In addition, the administration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy, programs and service delivery transferred to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The portfolio gained responsibility for sport and recreation policy.
Summary of name changes
September 2013 -Department of Health
November 2001 - September 2013
Department of Health and Ageing
October 1998 - November 2001
Department of Health and Aged Care
March 1996 - October 1998
Department of Health and Family Services
March 1994 - March 1996
Department of Human Services and Health
March 1993 - March 1994
Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services
June 1991 - March 1993
Department of Health, Housing and Community Services
July 1987 - June 1991
Department of Community Services and Health
March 1921 - July 1987
Department of Health
Health Ministers
24/1/17 -Greg Hunt
23/12/2014 - 13/1/2017
Sussan Ley
18/09/2013 - 23/12/2014
Peter Dutton
14/12/2011 - 18/09/2013
Tanya Plibersek
03/12/2007 - 14/12/2011
Nicola Roxon
07/10/2003 - 03/12/2007
Tony Abbott
27/11/2001 - 6/10/2003
Kay Christine Lesley Patterson
11/03/1996 - 11/11/2001
Michael Richard Lewis Wooldridge
25/03/1994 - 11/03/1996
Carmen Mary Lawrence
24/03/1993 - 25/03/1994
Graham Frederick Richardson
04/04/1990 - 24/03/1993
Brian Leslie Howe, AM
11/03/1983 - 04/04/1990
Neal Blewett, AC
07/05/1982 - 11/03/1983
James Joseph Carlton, AO
20/04/1982 - 07/05/1982
Peter Erne Baume, AO
08/12/1979 - 20/04/1982
Michael John Randal MacKellar
12/12/1975 - 08/12/1979
Ralph James Dunnet Hunt, AO
11/11/1975 - 12/12/1975
Donald Leslie Chipp, AO
19/12/1972 - 11/11/1975
Douglas Nixon Everingham
05/12/1972 - 19/12/1972
Lance Herbert Barnard, AO
02/08/1971 - 05/12/1972
Sir Kenneth McColl Anderson
22/03/1971 - 02/08/1971
Ivor John Greenwood
26/01/1966 - 22/03/1971
Alexander James Forbes
21/11/1964 - 26/01/1966
Sir Reginald William Colin Swartz
22/12/1961 - 18/11/1964
Harrie Walter Wade
11/01/1956 - 22/12/1961
Donald Alastair Cameron
19/12/1949 - 11/01/1956
Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page
18/06/1946 - 19/12/1949
Nicholas Edward McKenna
21/09/1943 - 18/06/1946
James Mackintosh Fraser
07/10/1941 - 21/09/1943
Edward James Holloway
28/10/1940 - 07/10/1941
Sir Frederick Harold Stewart
14/03/1940 - 28/10/1940
Harold Victor Campbell Thorby
26/04/1939 - 14/03/1940
Sir Frederick Harold Stewart
07/11/1938 - 26/04/1939
Hattil Spencer Foll
29/11/1937 - 07/11/1938
Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page
26/02/1936 - 29/11/1937
William Morris Hughes
08/11/1935 - 26/02/1936
Joseph Aloysius Lyons
12/10/1934 - 06/11/1935
William Morris Hughes
06/01/1932 - 12/10/1934
Sir Charles Williams Clanan Marr
03/03/1931 - 06/01/1932
John McNeill
22/10/1929 - 03/03/1931
Frank Anstey
24/02/1928 - 22/10/1929
Sir Neville Reginald Howse, VC
02/04/1927 - 24/02/1928
Stanley Melbourne Bruce
16/01/1925 - 02/04/1927
Sir Neville Reginald Howse, VC
13/06/1924 - 16/01/1925
Herbert Edward Pratten
29/05/1924 - 13/06/1924
Sir Littleton Ernest Groom
09/02/1923 - 26/05/1924
Sir Austin Chapman
10/03/1921 - 05/02/1923
Sir Walter Massey-Green
Other Ministries (relating to the Department's responsibilities at the time)
24/2/2017 -Assistant Minister for Health - Dr David Gillespie
24/02/2017 -
Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health- Ken Wyatt
19/07/2016 - 24/02/17
Assistant Minister for Rural Health - Dr David Gillespie
18/02/2016 - 24/02/17
Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care - Ken Wyatt
21/09/2015 - 18/02/2016
Assistant Minister for Health - Ken Wyatt
21/09/2015 - 19/7/2016
Minister for Rural Health - Fiona Nash
18/09/2013 - 21/09/2015
Assistant Minister for Health - Fiona Nash
14/09/2010 - 18/09/2013
Minister for Mental Health and Ageing - Mark Butler
09/06/2009 - 18/09/2013
Minister for Indigenous Health - Warren Snowdon
03/12/2007 - 06/06/2009
Minister for Sport - Kate Ellis
03/12/2007 - 11/09/2010
Minister for Ageing - Justine Elliot
21/03/2007 - 03/12/2007
Minister for Ageing - Christopher Pyne
27/01/2006 - 21/03/2007
Minister for Ageing - Santo Santoro
7/10/2003 - 27/01/2006
Minister for Ageing - Julie Isabel Bishop
26/11/2001 - 07/10/2003
Minister for Ageing - Kevin James Andrews
21/10/1998 - 26/11/2001
Minister for Aged Care - Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop
09/10/1997 - 21/10/1998
Minister for Family Services - Warwick Leslie Smith
11/03/1996 - 09/1 0/1997
Minister for Family Services - Judith Eleanor Moylan
25/03/1994 - 11/03/1996
Minister for Veterans' Affairs - Concetto Antonio Sciacca
24/03/1993 - 25/03/1994
Minister for Veterans' Affairs - John Philip Faulkner
24/03/1993 - 11/03/1996
Minister for Family Services - Rosemary Anne Crowley
07/05/1990 - 24/03/1993
Minister for Aged, Family and Health Services - Peter Richard Staples
15/02/1988 - 07/05/1990
Minister for Housing and Aged Care - Peter Richard Staples
19/01/1988 - 15/02/1988
Minister for Housing and Aged Care - Peter Frederick Morris
24/07/1987 - 04/04/1990
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs - Gerard Leslie Hand
24/07/1987 - 24/03/1993
Minister for Veterans' Affairs - Benjamin Charles Humphreys, AM
14/09/1971 - 05/12/1972
Assistant Minister Assisting the Minister for Health - John Edward Marriott
Parliamentary Secretaries (relating to the Department's responsibilities at the time)
14/09/2010 - 18/09/2013Parliamentary Secretary for Health - Catherine King
09/06/2009 - 14/09/2010
Parliamentary Secretary for Health - Mark Butler
03/12/2007 - 06/06/2009
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing - Jan McLucas
21/03/2007 - 03/12/2007
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing - Brett Mason
26/10/2004 - 21/03/2007
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing - Christopher Pyne
26/11/2001 - 26/10/2004
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing - Patricia (Trish) Mary Worth
21/10/1998 - 26/11/2001
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Aged Care - Grant Ernest John Tambling
18/07/1997 - 21/10/1998
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Family Services - Patricia (Trish) Mary Worth
13/02/1997 - 18/07/1997
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Family Services - Christopher Martin Ellison
11/03/1996 - 03/02/1997
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Family Services - Robert Leslie Woods
25/03/1994 - 11/03/1996
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Human Services and Health - Andrew Charles Theophanous
24/03/1993 - 25/03/1994
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health - Andrew Charles Theophanous
23/12/1993 - 25/03/1994
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Human Services - Andrew Charles Theophanous
24/03/1993 - 23/12/1993
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Community Services - Andrew Charles Theophanous
27/12/1991 - 24/03/93
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services - Gary Thomas Johns
Heads of the Department from 1921 to the present
Director-General
1983 - 1984LJ (Lawrie) Willett
1973 - 1982
Dr Gwyn Howells
1960 - 1973
Sir William Refshauge
1947 - 1960
Dr Arthur John Metcalfe
1945 - 1946
Dr Frank McCallum
1921 - 1945
Dr John Howard Lidgett Cumpston
Secretary
2014 - 2017Martin Bowles
2002 - 2014
Jane Halton
1996 - 2002
Andrew Stuart Podger
1994 - 1996
Stephen John Duckett
1993 - 1994
Anthony Stuart (Tony) Cole
1988 - 1993
Stuart Hamilton
1987 - 1988
Anthony J (Tony) Ayers
1984 - 1987
Bernard V McKay
Deputy Heads of the Department from 1956 to the present
Deputy Director General
1983 - 1987Mrs A. Kern
1982 - 1983
P.T. Pflaum (Acting)
1981 - 1982
C.P. Evans
M. Carroll
1974 - 1981
C.P. Evans
C.A. Nettle
1973 - 1974
A.D. Spears
C.P. Evans (Acting)
C.A. Nettle
1972 - 1973
Dr Gwyn Howells
Dr H.M. Franklands
1969 - 1972
Dr L.J. Wienholt
Dr H.M. Franklands
1963 - 1969
Dr H.E. Downes
Dr G.M. Redshaw
1956 - 1963
Dr H.E. Downes
Dr G.M. Redshaw
R.H.D. White
Deputy Secretary
2016-Mr Paul Madden
Mr Andrew Stuart
Mr Mark Cormack
Dr Wendy Southern
Adj Prof John Skerritt
Dr Margot McCarthy
Ms Alison Larkins
2015 – 2016
Mr Paul Madden
Mr Andrew Stuart
Ms Elizabeth Cosson
Mr Mark Cormack
Dr Wendy Southern
Adj Prof John Skerritt
Dr Margot McCarthy
2014 - 2015
Mr Paul Madden
Mr David Butt
Mr Andrew Stuart
Ms Kerry Flanagan
Ms Elizabeth Cosson
2013 - 2014
Mr Paul Madden
Mr David Butt
Mr David Learmonth
Mr Andrew Stuart
Ms Kerry Flanagan
Ms Elizabeth Cosson
2011 - 2013
Mr David Learmonth
Ms Kerry Flanagan
Mr Andrew Stuart
Mr Paul Madden
Mr David Butt
Ms Rosemary Huxtable
2010 - 2011
Ms Mary Murnane
Mr David Learmonth
Ms Rosemary Huxtable
Mr Graeme Head
Mr Richard Eccles
2006 - 2009
Ms Mary Murnane
Mr Philip Davies
Mr David Kalisch
Mr David Learmonth
2002 - 2006
Ms Mary Murnane
Mr Philip Davies
2001 - 2002
Ms Mary Murnane
Dr Louise Moruata (Acting)
1997 - 2001
Ms Mary Murnane
Mr David Borthwick
1994 - 1997
Ms Mary Murnane
Mr Ian Lindenmayer
1993 - 1994
Ms Mary Murnane
Mr Alan Bansemer
1992 - 1993
Mr Alan Bansemer
Ms Mary Murnane
Mr Mick Roche
1987 - 1992
Mr Alan Bansemer
Mr Glenn Rees
Mr Mick Roche
Chief Medical Officers
4 October 2016 -Prof. Brendan Murphy
Aug 2011 - July 2016
Prof. Chris Baggoley
Apr 2009 - May 2011
Prof. Jim Bishop
Sep 2003 - Apr 2009
Prof. John Horvath
Nov 1999 - 2003
Prof. Richard Smallwood
7 April 1997 - 1999
Prof. Judith Whitworth
1988 - 1997
Dr. Tony Adams
1985 - 1988
Dr. David de Souza
'Putting Life into Years' - The Commonwealth's role in Australia's health since 1901
Putting Life into Years tells the story of the Commonwealth's involvement in the health of the nation, from modest beginning in 1901 to today. It moves through each decade of the 20th century, highlighting major events in health and placing them in the broader context of Australia's first century as a nation.The book is aimed at the general reader. It draws on departmental material, archival as well as current, secondary sources and interviews. For those who wish to delve further into the subject there is an annotated bibliography written by leading public health academics, Dr Neville Hicks, Dr Judith Raftery and Jane Harford, of the University of Adelaide.
The department commissioned Francesca Beddie to write the book. Ms Beddie is a generalist historian, who also has fifteen years experience as a Commonwealth public servant. The project was overseen by an editorial board chaired by Departmental Secretary, Mr Andrew Podger. Dr Hicks and Dr Raftery from the University of Adelaide acted as academic advisers.
Chapters one to nine trace the decades of the twentieth century and a closing chapter takes a look into the future. The reader will also find boxes throughout the text. These can be read in the context of the narrative or on their own. Some deal with specific diseases, others give biographical information or chart the development or certain institutions. There is a timeline at the bottom of the text that marks other significant events in Australia's political and social history.
This is not an institutional history, although the Department of Health is a central character. The book sets out and analyses the development of what is today a national health system delivering high quality health care to most of the population. It also gives the reader some insight into the policy-making process and the mindsets of those within the bureaucracy and political life, as well as in the health profession, who were involved in the establishment of the system.
The reader will encounter a number of recurring themes in the book: Australia's federal structure; the mixture of public and private in the delivery of health services; the manner of financing the system; the state's role in public or population health; the influence of technology; and the rise of the informed consumer.
The story of health in twentieth-century Australia is a positive one. Advances in science and in the health-care system have substantially increased the chances that Australians will live out the natural span of human being's life. In 1900, life expectancy for men was 52; 55 for women. By 1996, the figures were 74 for men and 81 for women.
However, there are also unresolved health problems. Life expectancy for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population remains at the 1900 level for other Australians. Putting Life into Years examines some of the reasons for the long neglect of Indigenous health, in particular the racist views which prevailed at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the lack of a national approach to Indigenous Health matters until the seventies.
The final chapter raises some issues for the new century. It cautions against complacency in the face of the remarkable technological achievements of the past fifty years or so. For while the threat of bubonic plague, which opened the twentieth century, may be gone, there are new epidemics to contend with. And while science is making extraordinary discoveries that may prolong life and even create it, it is still up to human beings to ensure that such discoveries are handled in a humane and ethical way.
The layout of the book is designed to illustrate the dynamism of the story and to put a face to some of the public servants and other characters who have been integral to the development of our national health administration. A splash of colour amidst faded black and white photographs reminds the reader that not all that is modern is new. To read history is a means of preparing for the future, to learn from past efforts and bring perspective to current endeavours.
The book was launched in August 2001 by Dr Michael Wooldridge.