Minister for Health | |
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Department of Health and Ageing | |
Style | The Honourable |
Appointer | Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia |
Inaugural holder | Frank Tudor |
Formation | 13 November 1908 |
Minister for Aged Care Minister for Indigenous Health |
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Department of Health and Ageing | |
Style | The Honourable |
Appointer | Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia |
Inaugural holder | Warren Snowdon |
Formation | 9 June 2009 |
The Australian Minister for Health is the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, since 24 January 2017.
The Australian Minister for Indigenous Health and Minister for Aged Care is the Hon. Ken Wyatt AM, MP, since 24 January 2017, having previously served as the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care since September 2015.
The Australian Assistant Minister for Health is the Hon. David Gillespie MP, since 24 January 2017, having previously served as the Assistant Minister for Rural Health between July 2016 and January 2017.
In the Government of Australia, the ministers are responsible for national health and medical research policy. The minister provides direction and oversight of the Department of Health.
Under Section 55(ix) of the Australian Constitution, the Commonwealth Parliament had the power to "make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to Quarantine." This was the only area of public health in which the Commonwealth had authority at the time of Federation. The federal parliament did not use this power until the proclamation of the Quarantine Act 1908, on 30 March 1908. The control of the administration of quarantine was under the administration of the Minister for Trade and Customs from 1908 until 1921. This Minister's responsibilities in health matters increased as the Australian Government took a greater role in the provision of public health services during the early 20th century, in particular after the First World War.