Jane Halton AO PSM |
|
---|---|
Jane Halton addresses World Health Organization as president of the 60th World Health Assembly in 2007
|
|
Secretary of the Department of Finance | |
In office 27 June 2014 – 15 October 2016 |
|
Secretary of the Department of Health | |
In office 18 September 2013 – 27 June 2014 |
|
Secretary of the Department of Health and Ageing | |
In office January 2002 – 18 September 2013 |
|
Personal details | |
Born |
Sarah Jane Halton 4 January 1960 Wickwar, Gloucestershire, England |
Nationality | Australian |
Spouse(s) | Trevor Sutton |
Children | 2 sons |
Alma mater | Australian National University |
Occupation | Public servant |
Sarah Jane "Jane" Halton AO PSM (born 4 January 1960) is a former senior Australian public servant. She was the head of the Department of Health between January 2002 and June 2014 and the head of the Department of Finance from 2014 to 2016. She joined the board of ANZ Bank in October 2016.
Jane Halton was born on 4 January 1960 in Wickwar, Gloucestershire, England. She and her family moved to Australia in 1973 when her father, Charles Halton, was recruited from Canada by the Whitlam Government to lead the Department of Transport. Jane Halton has an Honours degree in psychology from the Australian National University.
Halton's first joined the Australian Public Service in the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
As a Deputy Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Halton was convener of the People Smuggling Taskforce in the Children Overboard Affair.
Prime Minister John Howard appointed Jane Halton as Secretary of the new Department of Health and Ageing in January 2002. The Department was reformed as the Department of Health in September 2013, when the Abbott Government was elected, and Halton remained at the head. During this time, Halton was responsible for providing advice to government on issues including the administration of Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and private health insurance, and for implementing a $60 billion budget. Whilst she was Health Secretary, Halton led the development of the first Memorandum of Understanding between Medicines Australia and the Australian Government, in 2010.