HUMAN SERVICES PORTFOLIO STRUCTURE

Figure 2: Human Services portfolio structure

MINISTER FOR HUMAN SERVICES

The Hon Michael Keenan MP was appointed as the Minister for Human Services on 20 December 2017.

As at 30 June 2018, the Minister for Human Services was responsible for administering the following legislation:

• Australian Hearing Services Act 1991, except the parts administered by the Minister for Health
• Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997
• Human Services (Medicare) Act 1973, except the parts administered by the Minister for Health.

PORTFOLIO ENTITY: AUSTRALIAN HEARING

Australian Hearing is a statutory authority established by the Australian Hearing Services Act 1991, governed by a board appointed by the Minister for Human Services. It delivers hearing services under the Australian Government Hearing Services Program, which the Department of Health administers.

The department works closely with Australian Hearing and advises the Minister for Human Services on the ministerial responsibilities that relate to Australian Hearing.

The department also liaises with stakeholder departments and agencies—such as the Department of Health, the Department of Finance, the National Disability Insurance Agency and the Department of Social Services—in relation to Australian Hearing, to inform advice to the Minister and the Secretary.

Australian Hearing is a corporate Australian Government entity under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

Financially, Australian Hearing is not a general government sector entity. Therefore, it is not consolidated into the government’s general government sector fiscal estimates and does not appear in the Portfolio Budget Statements or the Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements.

Australian Hearing prepares its own annual report under section 45 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.