The Department of Health is a Western Australian government department responsible for regulating and advancing health within the state. It manages a system of multiple Health Service Providers (HSPs) which make up Western Australia's public health system, and is collectively referred to as WA Health. WA Health covers a state which spans over 2.5 million square kilometres, making it the world's largest single health authority by area.
History
The Public Health Department of Western Australia operated between 1911 and 1984.[1] It merged with Mental Health Services and the Department of Hospital and Allied Services in July 1984, to become the Health Department of Western Australia.[2] In September 2001, it was renamed to the Department of Health.[3]
Preceding agencies
Medical Department, 1 January 1850 – 1 October 1906
Central Board of Health, 17 November 1886 – 31 May 1911
Public Health Department of Western Australia, 1 June 1911 – 30 June 1984
Department of Hospital and Allied Services, 30 April 1981 – 30 June 1984
^Snow, Dudley; Western Australia. Public Health Department (1981), The progress of public health in Western Australia, 1829-1977, Public Health Dept. : distributed by University of Western Australia Press, ISBN978-0-7244-8478-2
Western Australia. Public Health Dept (1979), A history of the State Health Laboratory Services : 1903-1978, Public Health Dept., W.A, ISBN978-0-7244-8134-7
Briscoe, Gordon; Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (2003), Counting, health and identity : a history of Aboriginal health and demography in Western Australia and Queensland, 1900-1940, Acoriginal Studies Press for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, ISBN978-0-85575-447-1
