Health Department boss Kym Peake resigns
The Victorian government's hotel quarantine debacle has claimed another casualty with the departure of the state health department's secretary Kym Peake.
The departure of the senior public servant, whose employment contract ends this month, had been widely expected in government circles for months after her evidence to the Hotel Quarantine Inquiry and comes in the wake of the resignations of Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and the state's top public servant Chris Eccles.
But senior ministers, speaking on condition of anonymity on Thursday said Ms Peake chose to step down from her job, exhausted after 10 months of being on the front line of the fight against the pandemic and the widespread criticism she and her department receieved over hotel quarantine.
She will be replaced by Professor Euan Wallace, the chief executive of Safer Care Victoria who has been seconded to the Health Department to jointly manage contact tracing and outbreak management.
In a statement, Premier Daniel Andrews thanked Ms Peake for her work and said she "decided to step down from the position to pursue other opportunities".
"Ms Peake has led significant reform that has touched the lives of many Victorians including the relief and recovery from recent bushfires, the establishment of the Mental Health Royal Commission, and the delivery of many of the recommendations from the Family Violence Royal Commission.
"We thank Ms Peake for her dedicated service to Victoria and for her tireless commitment throughout the pandemic and her time with DHHS. We wish her well for the future."
In evidence to the hotel quarantine inquiry, Ms Peake said she had not briefed her minister, Jenny Mikakos, on safety concerns with the program, even after a suspected suicide and a delay in transferring a COVID-19 positive quarantine detainee to intensive care.
The Health Department was forced to hand over additional emails to the inquiry after it concluded its hearings. The non-disclosure was one of the reasons the inquiry required additional time to complete its final report.
Ms Mikakos resigned over the hotel quarantine scandal in September. Chris Eccles, who ran the Department of Premier and Cabinet, resigned in October.
Professor Wallace has been seconded from Safer Care Victoria, where he is chief executive, to the Health Department in recent months. He has been jointly responsible for contact tracing and outbreak management
An academic obstetrician and gynaecologist by training, Professor Wallace is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Monash University.
Professor Wallace will start as departmental secretary on November 17.
Mr Andrews said Professor Wallace was a widely respected health-sector leader who is "well-placed to lead the department through its next phase of pandemic response and recovery".
If you or anyone you know needs support call Lifeline on 131 114, or Beyond Blue's coronavirus mental wellbeing support service on 1800 512 348.
Get our Morning & Evening Edition newsletters
The most important news, analysis and insights delivered to your inbox at the start and end of each day. Sign up here.