The Department of Health was established in 1921 and has since undergone a number of changes in its

name function and structure. The changes are briefly outlined below, including name changes, Health
Ministers and Heads of Department.

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 - 18/09/2013

Parliamentary 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 - 1984

LJ (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 - 2017

Martin 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 - 1987

Mrs 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.