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, Disability and Ageing.
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.
Acting Deputy Secretary for Health Strategy, First Nations and Sport
Celia Street
Celia Street is the Acting Deputy Secretary of Health Strategy, First Nations and Sport Group. The Group oversees a broad remit of programs and policy across a wide range of topics, covering First Nations Health; Health Economics and Research (including the Office of the Chief Health Economist), as well as public health funding reform, private health insurance and public and private hospital policy, along with overseeing the Office for Sport.
In early 2025, Celia led the Department’s Health Reform Taskforce, successfully negotiating a one-year extension to the National Health Reform Agreement and delivering an additional $1.7 billion to fund public hospitals and health services.
Prior to this, Celia notably led the Australian Government’s Health response to COVID-19 through her leadership of the National Incident Centre and the Office of Health Protection and Response.
Celia joined the Department of Health and Aged Care in 2012 after various roles across the Australian Public Service.
Deputy Secretary for Health Resourcing
Penny Shakespeare
Penny Shakespeare brings a wealth of expertise and experience to a wide range of policy making across Australia’s health and aged care system.
As Deputy Secretary of the department’s Health Resourcing Group, she oversees a broad spectrum of health policy. This includes Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme policies and integrity, ensuring Australia has a planned, highly trained and well distributed health workforce advancing digital health solutions and harnessing the potential of genomics.
Penny joined the department in 2006. Since then, Penny has held a number of senior leadership positions, including First Assistant Secretary of the Technology Assessment and Access Division and Health Workforce Division. Penny has been a member of the Workplace Relations Ministers Advisory Council and the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission and represents the Commonwealth on the board of the National Blood Authority.
Before 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 Australian Capital Territory’s 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
Sonja Stewart
Sonja Stewart joined the Department of Health and Aged Care in December 2024 as the Deputy Secretary of the Ageing and Aged Care Group.
Sonja is a Yuin woman with extensive senior leadership experience across State and Commonwealth governments including as Deputy Secretary at the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet and as Deputy Commissioner of the NSW Public Service Commission. Her more recent roles include CEO of the Law Society of NSW and CEO of Arrilla Indigenous Consulting.
Sonja has a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws from the University of NSW and the University of Alberta, Canada. Sonja has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Columbia University, New York. As a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors she has been a Director and Chair of Government, Academic and Not for Profit Boards for over 20 years, including Chairperson of the Goodes O'Loughlin Foundation – which aims to improve educational outcomes of Aboriginal children and young people.
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.
Deputy Secretary, Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control
Mary Wood
Mary is a senior health executive with a broad span of experience across policy, strategy, advocacy and communications.
Mary has served both as press secretary and as Chief of Staff to a federal minister, as a Deputy Director-General in ACT Health, led corporate citizenship at the Business Council of Australia, and held a variety of other leadership roles.
Mary has qualifications in law and public policy, and prior to heading up the Interim CDC led the Commonwealth taskforce responsible for negotiating the national public hospitals agreement with the states.
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).
Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer
Professor (Practice) Alison J McMillan PSM
Adjunct Professor (Practice) Alison McMillan, PSM, serves as the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer for the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
Alison is passionate about realising the value of nursing and midwifery to ensure all Australians continue to access high quality health and aged care. She continues to champion health care equity especially in access to sexual and reproductive health for women.
With over 40 years of experience as a Registered Nurse, Alison offers strategic policy advice to Ministers, the executive and staff within the Department of Health and Aged Care and other government departments on matters related to nursing, midwifery, health system reform, workforce regulation, and education.
Alison has adjunct professor appointments at the University of Canberra and Monash University and is recognised as a Distinguished Alumni by Latrobe University.
Alison has been honoured with several awards, including the Public Service Medal for her exceptional service during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in infection prevention measures. She also received the National Emergency Medal for her service following the 2009 Victorian Bushfires and the Humanitarian Overseas Medal in 2021.