Alumnus appointed as Secretary of Health Department
Published:27 November 2014
Martin Bowles PSM was recently appointed as Secretary of the Department of Health.
CQUniversity alumnus Martin Bowles PSM was recently appointed as Secretary of the Commonwealth Government Department of Health, based in Canberra.
Previously, Mr Bowles was the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, overseeing the management of migration, humanitarian, citizenship and visa policy and programs, managing the lawful entry, stay and departure of people crossing the Australian border, and managing the Immigration Detention network and regional processing centres.
Prior to this role, Mr Bowles held the positions of Deputy Secretary in the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the Department of Defence respectively.
In 2012, Mr Bowles was awarded a Public Service Medal for delivering highly successful energy efficiency policies and remediation programs for the Home Insulation and Green Loans programs.
Prior to joining the Commonwealth, Mr Bowles held senior executive positions in the Queensland and New South Wales public sector.
After working at Queensland Railways, Mr Bowles served in the Central Regional Health Authority and then held various senior executive positions with the Richmond, Northern Rivers and Mid-Western health services in New South Wales.
Mr Bowles was the Executive Director of the Prince Henry and Prince of Wales hospitals from 2001-02 prior to taking up the role of the Chief Executive Officer of the Wentworth Area Health Service in June 2002.
In 2003, Mr Bowles was promoted to the role of Deputy Director General of Corporate Services at the Department of Education and Training in New South Wales prior to joining the Commonwealth Public Sector in 2006 when he was appointed as Deputy Secretary of Defence Support in the Department of Defence.
Mr Bowles has a Bachelor of Business degree from the Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education (now CQUniversity), a Graduate Certificate of Public Sector Management from Griffith University and is a Fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants.
Mr Bowles is married to Deidre and has two children, Andrew and Morgan.