Minister for Aged Care and Seniors
| Minister for Aged Care and Seniors | |
|---|---|
 | |
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since 13 May 2025 | |
| Department of Health, Disability and Ageing | |
| Appointer | Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia |
| Inaugural holder | Peter Morris (as Minister for Housing and Aged Care) |
| Formation | 19 January 1988 |
| Website | www |
The Minister for Aged Care and Seniors is a position in the Australian Government responsible for oversight of aged care in Australia alongside the Minister for Health and Ageing, who is the senior minister providing direction and oversight of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. The incumbent Minister for Aged Care and Seniors is Labor MP Sam Rae, serving since 13 May 2025.
List of ministers for aged care
[edit]The following individuals have been appointed as the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, or any of its precedent titles. Ministers for aged care or ageing were appointed from 1988 to 1993 and again from 1998 to 2013. The portfolio gained a mental health component in 2010. The latter returned to the health portfolio in 2013, with ageing moving to social services. The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, or any of its precedent titles:[1] The Turnbull government transferred the aged care portfolio back to the Department of Health in October 2015. The position is a separate role that supplements the cabinet role of the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Between January 2017 and January 2025, it was an outer ministry role.[2] The role was briefly made a Cabinet of Australia role in the first Albanese ministry from January to May 2025,[3] before it returned to the outer ministry in May 2025 with the swearing-in of the second Albanese ministry.[4]
| Order | Minister | Party | Prime Minister | Title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Morris | Labor | Hawke | Minister for Housing and Aged Care | 19 January 1988 | 15 February 1988 | 27 days | |
| 2 | Peter Staples | 15 February 1988 | 7 May 1990 | 5 years, 64 days | ||||
| Minister for Aged, Family and Health Services | 7 May 1990 | 20 December 1991 | ||||||
| Keating | 20 December 1991 | 24 March 1993 | ||||||
| 3 | Bronwyn Bishop | Liberal | Howard | Minister for Aged Care | 21 October 1998 | 26 November 2001 | 3 years, 36 days | |
| 4 | Kevin Andrews | Minister for Ageing | 26 November 2001 | 7 October 2003 | 1 year, 315 days | |||
| 5 | Julie Bishop | 7 October 2003 | 27 January 2006 | 2 years, 112 days | ||||
| 6 | Santo Santoro | 27 January 2006 | 21 March 2007 | 1 year, 53 days | ||||
| 7 | Christopher Pyne | 21 March 2007 | 3 December 2007 | 257 days | ||||
| 8 | Justine Elliot | Labor | Rudd | 3 December 2007 | 28 June 2010 | 2 years, 207 days | ||
| 9 | Mark Butler | Gillard | Minister for Mental Health and Ageing | 28 June 2010 | 1 July 2013 | 3 years, 3 days | ||
| 10 | Jacinta Collins | Rudd | 1 July 2013 | 18 September 2013 | 79 days | |||
| 11 | Sussan Ley | Liberal | Turnbull | Minister for Aged Care | 30 September 2015 | 19 July 2016 | 1 year, 105 days | |
| Minister for Health and Ageing | 19 July 2016 | 13 January 2017 | ||||||
| (acting) | Arthur Sinodinos[5] | 13 January 2017 | 24 January 2017 | 11 days | ||||
| 12 | Ken Wyatt | Minister for Aged Care | 24 January 2017 | 28 August 2018 | 2 years, 125 days | |||
| Morrison | Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care | 28 August 2018 | 29 May 2019 | |||||
| 13 | Richard Colbeck | Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians | 29 May 2019 | 22 December 2020 | 2 years, 359 days | |||
| Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services | 22 December 2020 | 23 May 2022 | ||||||
| (9) | Mark Butler | Labor | Albanese | Minister for Health and Aged Care | 1 June 2022 | 13 May 2025 | 2 years, 346 days | |
| 14 | Anika Wells | Minister for Aged Care | ||||||
| (9) | Mark Butler | Minister for Health and Ageing | 13 May 2025 | Incumbent | 13 days | |||
| 15 | Sam Rae | Minister for Aged Care and Seniors | ||||||
List of assistant ministers
[edit]The following individual has been appointed as Assistant Ministers of Health and Aged Care, or any of its precedent titles:[6]
| Order | Minister | Party | Prime Minister | Title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Pyne | Liberal | Howard | Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing | 30 January 2007 | 21 March 2007 | 50 days | |
| 2 | Ken Wyatt | Liberal | Turnbull | Assistant Minister for Health | 30 September 2015 | 18 February 2016 | 1 year, 110 days | |
| Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care | 18 February 2016 | 18 January 2017 | ||||||
| 3 | David Gillespie | Nationals | Assistant Minister for Health | 24 January 2017 | 20 December 2017 | 330 days | ||
| 4 | Ged Kearney | Labor | Albanese | Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care | 1 June 2022 | 13 May 2025 | 2 years, 346 days | |
| 5 | Rebecca White | 13 May 2025 | Incumbent | 13 days | ||||
References
[edit]- ^ "The 45th Parliament: Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2017". Parliament of Australia. 2017. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
- ^ "Ministerial Arrangements - House of Representatives Hansard". Parliament of Australia. 7 February 2017.
- ^ Evans, Jake; Worthington, Brett (16 January 2025). "Amanda Rishworth becomes new NDIS Minister, Anika Wells enters cabinet in pre-election reshuffle". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 13 May 2025.
- ^ "Ministry list as at 13 May 2025". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 13 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
- ^ Anderson, Stephanie (18 January 2017). "Greg Hunt announced as Sussan Ley's replacement as Health Minister". ABC News. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- ^ "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
