Jane Halton | |
|---|---|
 Jane Halton addressesWorld Health Organization as president of the 60thWorld Health Assembly in 2007 | |
| Secretary of theDepartment of Finance | |
| In office 27 June 2014 – 15 October 2016 | |
| Secretary of theDepartment of Health | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 27 June 2014 | |
| Secretary of theDepartment of Health and Ageing | |
| In office January 2002 – 18 September 2013 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sarah Jane Halton (1960-01-04)4 January 1960 (age 66) Wickwar, Gloucestershire, England |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Spouse | Trevor Sutton[1] |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Alma mater | Australian National University |
| Occupation | Public servant |
Sarah Jane "Jane" HaltonAO PSM (born 4 January 1960) is a former senior Australian public servant, current global health leader and former casino board member. She was the head of the Department of Health between January 2002 and June 2014, and the head of the Department of Finance from 2014 to 2016. She has held senior board roles with ANZ Bank, Clayton Utz, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Crown Casino. She was the Independent Chair of COTA Australia (Council on the Ageing) beginning December 2017. In 2020, she was appointed to the Morrison government's National COVID Commission.[2]
Halton has held concurrent roles within the gambling and casino industry at the same time she has held senior roles within global health organizations - including the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).[3] She held these conflicting roles despite IHME estimates that "gambling-related burden of harm was 2.5 times more than diabetes and 3.0 times more than drug use disorder".[4] Halton has not explained the rationale for holding these competing concurrent roles despite the remuneration from Crown averaging just under AUD 300,000 per year.[5]
Halton was born on 4 January 1960 inWickwar, Gloucestershire, England.[6] She and her family moved to Australia in 1973 when her father,Charles Halton, was recruited from Canada by theWhitlam government to lead the Department of Transport.[6] She has an Honours degree in psychology from theAustralian National University.[7]
Halton first joined theAustralian Public Service in theAustralian Bureau of Statistics.[8]
As a Deputy Secretary in theDepartment of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Halton was convener of the People Smuggling Taskforce in theChildren Overboard Affair.[9][10]
Prime MinisterJohn Howard appointed Halton asSecretary of the newDepartment of Health and Ageing in January 2002.[11][12] The Department was reformed as theDepartment of Health in September 2013, when theAbbott government was elected, and Halton remained at the head. During this time, she was responsible for providing advice to government on issues including the administration of Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and private health insurance, and for implementing a $60 billion budget.[1] While she was Health Secretary, Halton led the development of the first Memorandum of Understanding between Medicines Australia and the Australian Government, in 2010.[13][14]
In June 2014, Halton was appointed Secretary of theDepartment of Finance.[15] She identified strengthening the performance framework for measuring the impact of Australian Government programs and services as a priority in the role, with a focus on streamlining and providing a greater level of accountability.[16] She also emphasized the scope of work harnessing technology to deliver public services more efficiently across government agencies into different platforms.[16] Halton announced her resignation, effective 15 October 2016, on 16 September 2016.[17][18][19]
After stepping down as Secretary, she was appointed to the boards ofCrown Casino,[20] theANZ Bank[21] and Vault Systems.[22] While serving on the board of Crown Casino, and for a period as acting chairman, Halton oversaw Crown Resorts’ response to theFinkelstein Royal Commission investigations around its suitability to hold a casino license[23] - stemming fromfailures to mitigate money laundering, strong ties to organized criminal networks, and other serious problems with Crown's corporate governance. Halton held concurrent roles within the gambling and casino industry at the same time she held senior roles in global health organizations.[3] She held these conflicting roles despite the IHME estimates that "gambling-related burden of harm was 2.5 times more than diabetes and 3.0 times more than drug use disorder".[4]
Halton is chair of the globalCoalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations[24][25] and in March 2020 was appointed to the executive board of the AustralianNational COVID-19 Coordination Commission.[26]
Halton was awarded thePublic Service Medal in 2002 and theCentenary Medal in 2003.[27]
In 2014, she was ranked number eight inThe Australian Women's Weekly Power List of Australia's 50 most powerful women.[28]
Halton was created an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 2015.[29] She was made an Honorary Fellow of theAustralian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS) in 2015.[30]
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title= (help){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Secretary of the Department of Finance 2014–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Herself as Secretary of the Department of Health and Ageing | Secretary of the Department of Health 2013–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care | Secretary of the Department of Health and Ageing 2002–2013 | Succeeded by Herself as Secretary of the Department of Health |
| International | |
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| People | |
