Minister for Human Services (Australia)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The position of Minister for Human Services within Australian politics is currently held by the Hon. Chris Bowen MP. The Minister is responsible for a number of welfare agencies and administers his portfolio through the Department of Human Services and its component bodies:
The Hon Chris Bowen was appointed as the Minister for Human Services on 9 June 2009. The Minister also has responsibility for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law.
The Department of Human Services was created on 26 October 2004, as part of the Finance Portfolio, to improve the development and delivery of Government social and health related services to the Australian people.
As a result of the Administrative Arrangements Orders (AAOs) issued on 30 January 2007, the Department of Human Services and its agencies were transferred to a newly created Human Services Portfolio.
The Department of Human Services provides a central policy and coordination role for the delivery of services across the Portfolio as well as being the delivery agency for child support and vocational rehabilitation services. The AAOs of 25 January 2008 clarified the Department’s responsibility for the development of policy or service delivery, directed at ensuring the effective, innovative, and efficient delivery of Government services. The Department works with other departments and agencies to ensure early consideration of service delivery issues in the policy development process to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of service delivery by agencies in the Human Services Portfolio.
[edit] Australian social services ministers
There was a Minister for Social Services or Social Security continuously from 1939 to 1998, when service delivery was partially privatised and residual functions were transferred to the Minister for Finance and Administration. In 2004, the position of Minister for Human Services was recreated to handle the residual functions.
| Minister | Party affiliation | Period | Ministerial Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick Harold Stewart | United Australia Party | 1939–1941 | Minister for Social Services |
| Ted Holloway | Australian Labor Party | 1941–1943 | |
| James Fraser | Australian Labor Party | 1943–1946 | |
| Nicholas McKenna | Australian Labor Party | 1946–1949 | |
| William Spooner | Liberal Party | 1949–1951 | |
| Athol Townley | Liberal Party | 1951–1954 | |
| William McMahon | Liberal Party | 1954–1956 | |
| Hugh Roberton | Country Party | 1956–1965 | |
| Reginald Swartz | Liberal Party | 1965 | |
| Ian Sinclair | Country Party | 1965–1968 | |
| Bill Wentworth | Liberal Party | 1968–1972 | |
| Bill Hayden | Australian Labor Party | 1972–1975 | Minister for Social Security |
| John Wheeldon | Australian Labor Party | 1975 | |
| Don Chipp | Liberal Party | 1975 | |
| Margaret Guilfoyle | Liberal Party | 1975–1980 | |
| Fred Chaney | Liberal Party | 1980–1983 | |
| Don Grimes | Australian Labor Party | 1983–1984 | |
| Brian Howe | Australian Labor Party | 1984–1990 | |
| Graham Richardson | Australian Labor Party | 1990–1991 | |
| Neal Blewett | Australian Labor Party | 1991–1993 | |
| Peter Baldwin | Australian Labor Party | 1993–1996 | |
| Jocelyn Newman | Liberal Party | 1996–1998 | |
| Joe Hockey | Liberal Party | 2004–2007 | Minister for Human Services |
| Ian Campbell | Liberal Party | 2007 | |
| Chris Ellison | Liberal Party | 2007 | |
| Joe Ludwig | Australian Labor Party | 2007–2009 | |
| Chris Bowen | Australian Labor Party | 2009 |
