Department of Health and Aged Care

Department of Health and Aged Care

The head office of the Department in Woden, ACT.
Department overview
Formed	1 July 2022 (2022-07-01) under new name
Preceding agencies	Department of Health Department of Health and Ageing
Jurisdiction	Australian Government
Headquarters	Canberra
Employees	5,693 (2022)[1]
Annual budget	A$98.2 billion (2022–23)[2]
Ministers responsible	Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Aged Care Anika Wells, Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Sport Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Emma McBride, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health Malarndirri McCarthy, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health
Department executives	Blair Comley, Secretary Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer Charles Wann, Chief Operating Officer
Website	health.gov.au

The Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC), formerly the Department of Health, is a department of the Australian Government responsible for health research, funding, promotion and regulation in Australia. Primary health care and aged care services are overseen by DHAC, while tertiary health services are administered by state and territory governments. The department is responsible for programs such as Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and agencies such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

The department is responsible to parliament through the minister for health and aged care, and is supported by four assistant ministers.^[3] The department secretary, Blair Comley, is responsible for day-to-day accountability of the organisation. The chief medical officer is Paul Kelly, who oversees clinical operations.^[4]