Health leader takes on top job
The senior executive who steered the Department of Health through the Covid pandemic and the Commission of Inquiry has been appointed to head the Tasmanian state service, Premier Jeremy Rockliff announced on Thursday.
Kathrine Morgan-Wicks was a familiar sight during the Covid pandemic.
She replaces former Department of Premier and Cabinet Secretary Jenny Gale, whose resignation was announced shortly after the state election.
Ms Morgan-Wicks has served as Secretary for the Department of Health since 2019 and previously held senior positions in the Department of Justice, and Department of Treasury and Finance, as well as senior executive and legal roles with the commonwealth.
“Corporate governance, financial management, cultural change and transforming organisations has been at the heart of Ms Morgan-Wicks’ service-oriented career,” Mr Rockliff said.
“As Secretary for the Department of Health, Ms Morgan-Wicks has been responsible for the delivery of the Tasmanian Health Service, and overseen significant reforms throughout our public health system.
“More recently, Tasmanians have witnessed the leadership of Ms Morgan-Wicks throughout the Covid-19 pandemic where she was instrumental in her role as State Health Commander and was acknowledged with a public service medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2022.”
Ms Morgan-Wicks was also a witness at the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings, where she made an emotional apology to victim-survivors.
She starts her new Monday.
The position carried a total salary package worth $545,000 in 2022-23, according to the DPAC annual report. job on