Bernard McKay

Secretary of the Department of Health
In office 10 September 1984 – 24 July 1987
Personal details
Born	1939 or 1940
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Public servant

Bernard V. "Bernie" McKay (born 1939 or 1940) is a former senior Australian public servant. He was Secretary of the Department of Health between 1984 and 1987.

Life and career

McKay was born in 1939 or 1940.^[1]

From 1972 to 1974, McKay was Assistant Director of ACT Health Services.^[2]

McKay was Secretary of the New South Wales Department of Health between December 1982 and September 1984, before the Prime Minister Bob Hawke appointed him to head the Australian Government Department of Health.^[3][1] His Department of Health appointment lasted until July 1987,^[4] when the Department was merged with the Department of Community Services to become the Department of Community Services and Health. When the merger took place, McKay was offered an Associate Secretary position at the new Department, but McKay refused the offer.^[5] His refusal was based on a dispute over the way the new Department was to be structured.^[6]

In October 1987, McKay was appointed to review Worksafe Australia, an Australian government agency tasked with improving health and safety standards in workplaces.^[7] The review was completed in 1988.^[8] It was highly critical of the organisation, stating that lack of direction, communications problems and inadequate coordination had led to an overall lack of progress in the organization's first years of operation.^[9]

In 1994, McKay was involved in an independent review of transport regulation in the ACT, commissioned by the ACT Government Department of Urban Services.^[10][11]

In 2005, McKay led a review into the operation of ambulance services in the Northern Territory.^[12]

References

1. "Professor new head of Foreign Affairs". The Canberra Times. 4 September 1984. p. 1.
2. Coyle, Kerry (29 September 1985). "Ringing the changes at Health". The Canberra Times. p. 10.
3. Hawke, Robert (3 September 1984). "Unknown" (Press release). Archived from the original on 27 February 2014.
4. CA 17: Department of Health, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 3 April 2015
5. Campbell, Rod (1 August 1987). "McKay may be forced to resign without benefits". The Canberra Times. p. 3.
6. Campbell, Rod (31 July 1987). "Department acting head quits in structure dispute". The Canberra Times. p. 3.
7. Campbell, Rod (17 October 1987). "Former head to review Worksafe". The Canberra Times. p. 3.
8. "Review of Worksafe completed". The Canberra Times. 23 February 1988. p. 8.
9. Campbell, Rod (4 March 1988). "Former health chief slams Worksafe". The Canberra Times. p. 1.
10. Clack, Peter (25 June 1994). "Rego checks may go in new plan". The Canberra Times. p. 4.
11. Hull, Crispin (13 July 1994). "Yearly check of cars could go". The Canberra Times. p. 3.
12. Henderson, Paul (7 September 2005). "Health expert heads ambo review" (PDF) (Press release). NT Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2015.