Leadership

Find out about the people who lead us in our Executive team, including the experience they bring to Health and Aged Care.

Our Secretary

Blair Comley PSM

Blair commenced as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care on 17 July 2023.

Blair has served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Blair has also served as Secretary of the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW’s most senior public servant.

Prior to these positions, Blair held senior leadership positions in Treasury including General Manager of the Indirect Tax Division, the Business Tax Division, and the Macroeconomic Policy Division and the Acting Chief Executive of the Australian Office of Financial Management with responsibility for managing the Commonwealth’s debt and derivative portfolio.

Blair has had extensive engagement with Commonwealth State relations, including reform of the Federation and Health funding in his role as Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in the NSW Government.

Blair also has significant private sector experience as a strategy consultant advising governments, not for profits, and corporates on a wide range of matters including climate, energy, human services, health, organisational leadership and design, governance and economic policy.

In 2012 Blair was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service in the development of public policy, particularly in the areas of carbon pricing and emissions trading, tax policy design and debt management.

Blair has a Bachelor of Economics (Hons), a Master of Economics and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Studies.

Chief Medical Officer 
Deputy Secretary of the Health Products Regulation Group

Professor Anthony (Tony) Lawler

Professor Tony Lawler is Deputy Secretary of the Health Products Regulation Group and Chief Medical Officer with the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

The Health Products Regulation Group works to safeguard and enhance the health of all Australians through effective, timely and risk-proportionate regulation of therapeutic goods, and the control of drug imports, exports and production. As Chief Medical Officer, Tony is the key medical advisor to the Secretary and Minister of Health.

Prior to joining the Department of Health and Aged Care in June 2023, Tony was Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Secretary – Clinical Quality, Regulation and Accreditation with the Tasmanian Department of Health. This role included providing leadership to health professionals, system-wide clinical governance oversight and the regulation of private health service establishments.

Having studied medicine at the University of Tasmania, Tony has worked in the health system as a Specialist Emergency Physician, Specialist Medical Administrator, and senior health public servant for almost 30 years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tony was the Tasmanian Health Service Emergency Operations Commander.

Tony has previously held positions as a member of the Board of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and the Council of the National Health and Medical Research Council, President of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, and Deputy Head of the Tasmanian School of Medicine. 

Tony is a Professor in Health Services with the University of Tasmania.

Deputy Secretary for Health Strategy, First Nations and Sport

Blair Exell

Blair is the Deputy Secretary for Health Strategy, First Nations and Sport in the Department of Health and Aged Care.

Blair has been a senior leader in foreign affairs, indigenous and development agendas in Australia and across the Asia Pacific region for almost 30 years.

Prior to his role in the Department of Health and Aged Care, Blair was the Deputy CEO of the National Indigenous Australians Agency responsible for Operations and Delivery. This followed 25 years in the foreign affairs and international development arena working across the Asia-Pacific region. He began his career in non-government organisations in Cambodia and Vietnam and later moved across to the Australian Public Service where Blair has now held senior roles for AusAID, DFAT, PMC, NIAA and DOHAC.

Blair was Australia’s most senior aid representative while posted to Cambodia, Solomon Islands and Indonesia. Blair was the inaugural Australian Ambassador for Regional Health Security (2017–2018) and served as Australia’s Board member to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (2017–2018).

Deputy Secretary for Health Resourcing

Penny Shakespeare

Penny Shakespeare is Deputy Secretary of the Health Resourcing Group. This includes the Technology Assessment and Access Division, Medical Benefits Division, Health Workforce Division, Benefits Integrity and Digital Health Division.

Since joining Health in 2006, Penny has held a number of senior leadership positions, including First Assistant Secretary of the Technology Assessment and Access Division and Health Workforce Division.

Prior to joining Health, Penny was an industrial relations lawyer in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and worked in regulatory policy roles, including as head of the ACT Office of Industrial Relations.

Penny has a Bachelor of Laws, a Master’s degree in International Law and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor.

Deputy Secretary for Ageing and Aged Care

Michael Lye

Michael Lye joined the Department of Health in December 2019 as Deputy Secretary responsible for Ageing and Aged Care.

Prior to joining Health, Michael was the Deputy Secretary responsible for disability and carers policy at the Department of Social Services, where his responsibilities included disability and carers policy and programs, the National Disability Strategy, the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Disability Employment Services.

Michael has a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology and a Master of Social Welfare Administration and Planning, both of which are from the University of Queensland.

Deputy Secretary for Primary and Community Care

Dr Liz Develin

Dr Liz Develin joined the Department of Health and Aged Care in January 2024 as Deputy Secretary for the Primary and Community Care Group.

Dr Liz Develin has executive leadership experience across all levels of Government.

Prior to joining the Department in January 2024, Liz has been a CEO of both the Sydney Olympic Park Authority and the Australian Energy Regulator.

Her public service career began in the NSW Government and she has enjoyed executive level roles across NSW Health, Premier & Cabinet, and the Planning portfolio. Her varied leadership roles have spanned areas such as health promotion, service planning, health infrastructure, national reform and intergovernmental relations, governance, urban planning, housing, energy and water. 

Liz has qualifications in human movement, public health, and a Doctorate of Business Administration that considered policy implementation in the NSW health system.

Chief Operating Officer

Charles Wann

Charles has been Chief Operating Officer (COO) since February 2020. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the Australian National University, specialising in Classics.

Charles joined the Department of Health in 2016, initially as Chief Budget Officer. In July 2017, he became First Assistant Secretary of the Financial Management Division. In April 2019, he moved to the Aged Care Reform and Compliance Division where he and his team implemented reforms to aged care quality and safety, workforce and the transition of compliance functions to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Before joining the department, Charles worked in diverse roles for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Department of Home Affairs in policy, program management and client and corporate services in Australia and overseas.

He has led teams responsible for introducing risk-based approaches to visa compliance and status resolution, and providing health, income and employment support to asylum seekers living in the community.

Chief Health Economist

Professor Emily Lancsar

Professor Emily Lancsar commenced as the Chief Health Economist in the department in April 2024.

Prior to this, Emily spent 25 years in academia, most recently as Head of the Department of Health Economics Wellbeing and Society at the Australian National University (ANU). She served as Associate Dean (Policy and Practice) in the College of Health and Medicine at the ANU from 2020–2022, where she remains a Professor.

Emily has also held academic appointments at Monash University (where she remains an Adjunct Professor), the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in the United Kingdom, the University of Sydney and University of Technology, Sydney.

While in academia, Emily published in excess of 100 peer reviewed journal articles, held numerous Australian and international grants and fellowships, was a member of a number of government advisory committees and served as Vice President of the Australian Health Economics Society.

Emily’s appointment represents a return to the Australian Public Service and the department, where she began her career as a cadet Health Economist.

Emily holds PhD, Masters, and Bachelors degrees in Economics, a Postgrad Diploma in Health Economics and Evaluation and a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies).

Date last updated:

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