Department of Human Services (Australia)

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Department of Human Services
Department of Human Services (Australia) logo.png
Caroline Chisholm Centre entrance March 2013.jpg
The Caroline Chisholm Centre, location of one of the Department of Human Services' main offices, in Tuggeranong, ACT.
Department overview
Formed26 October 2004 (2004-10-26) [1]
Jurisdiction Commonwealth of Australia
Headquarters Forrest, Australian Capital Territory [2]
Employees34,757 (at June 2014) [3]
Minister responsible
Department executive
Child agencies
Website humanservices.gov.au

The Department of Human Services (also called DHS) is a department of the Government of Australia charged with responsibility for delivering a range of welfare, health, child support payments and other services to the people of Australia.

Government of Australia federal democratic administrative authority of Australia

The Government of Australia is the government of the Commonwealth of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. It is also commonly referred to as the Australian Government, the Commonwealth Government, Her Majesty's Government, or the Federal Government.

Welfare is a type of government support for the citizens of that society. Welfare may be provided to people of any income level, as with social security, but it is usually intended to ensure that the poor can meet their basic human needs such as food and shelter. Welfare attempts to provide poor people with a minimal level of well-being, usually either a free- or a subsidized-supply of certain goods and social services, such as healthcare, education, and vocational training.

Contents

The Department of Human Services delivers its services through a portfolio of two organisations and three departmental master programs: [6]

Australian Hearing is a statutory authority constituted under the Australian Hearing Services Act 1991, reporting to the Minister for Human Services, and is within the Department of Human Services portfolio. Australian Hearing is the largest Australian government-funded hearing aid dispensing company providing hearing care and technologies. One of their areas of interest is hearing testing and rehabilitation of children under the age of 26.

A statutory authority is a body set up by law which is authorised to enact legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state. They are typically found in countries which are governed by a British style of parliamentary democracy such as the UK and British Commonwealth countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India. They are also found in Israel and elsewhere. In Britain, many such bodies are termed QUANGOs because of their semi-autonomous nature.

Centrelink Australian government agency

The Centrelink Master Program, or more commonly Centrelink, is a Department of Human Services master program of the Australian Government. It delivers a range of government payments and services for retirees, the unemployed, families, carers, parents, people with disabilities, Indigenous Australians, students, apprentices and people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and provides services at times of major change. The majority of Centrelink's services are the disbursement of social security payments.

The head of the department is the Secretary of the Department of Human Services, currently Renée Leon PSM , [5] who is responsible to the Minister for Human Services, currently the Hon. Michael Keenan [4] MP .

Departmental secretary senior public servant of a Commonwealth or state government department

In the administration of government in Australia, a departmental secretary is the most senior public servant of a Commonwealth or state government department, charged with leading the department on a day-to-day basis.

Renée Elmina Leon is a senior Australian public servant. She is currently Secretary of the Department of Human Services, having been appointed in September 2017.

The Public Service Medal (PSM) is a civil decoration awarded to Australian public servants for outstanding service. The PSM was introduced in 1989 and replaced the Imperial awards discontinued in 1975, supplementing the Order of Australia introduced that same year. Recipients of the Public Service Medal are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "PSM".

History

The Department of Human Services was created on 26 October 2004 as part of the Australian Government's Finance and Administration portfolio. At the time of the department's creation, it incorporated the Child Support Agency and CRS Australia.

The Child Support Agency (CSA) was an Australian Government organisation which was established in 1988 to administer the assessment and collection of child support under the Australian Government's Child Support Scheme.

The Human Services Legislation Amendment Act 2011 integrated the services of Centrelink, Medicare Australia and CRS Australia into the Department of Human Services, with effect from 1 July 2011.

The Secretary at the Department's establishment in 2004 was Patricia Scott. [8] Helen Williams was appointed Secretary of the Department in 2007. [9] Finn Pratt succeeded Williams in September 2009 after her retirement from the public service. [1] [9]

Patricia Scott is a senior Australian public servant and policymaker. In her time as Secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy she was responsible for rolling out the first stages of the Australian Government's $40-plus billion National Broadband Network.

Helen Rodda Williams is a retired Australian senior public servant. She was the first woman in the Australian Public Service to be appointed as a Secretary of an Australian government department.

Finn Axel Pratt is a senior Australian public servant. He is currently Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Energy.

Responsibilities

Currently, the Department of Human Services is responsible for administering the following Australian legislation.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 CA 9004: Department of Human Services, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 12 December 2013
  2. Towell, Noel (11 December 2013). "Centrelink boss Kathryn Campbell keeps three offices despite cutbacks". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013.
  3. Australian Public Service Commission (2014), Main features:APS at a glance, archived from the original on 5 October 2014
  4. 1 2 "Minister for Human Services". Department of Human Services. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Secretary of the Department of Human Services". Department of Human Services. Commonwealth of Australia . Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  6. "About us". Department of Human Services. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  7. "About Us". Australian Hearing. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  8. Howard, John (22 October 2004). "Appointment of Secretaries" (Press release). Archived from the original on 19 November 2013.
  9. 1 2 Rudd, Kevin (13 August 2009). "Departmental secretaries and statutory office-holders, Canberra" (Press release). Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
  10. "Administrative Arrangements Order" (PDF). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . Australian Government. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.