Like the rest of the country, Victoria was able to control the virus the first time around with swift statewide action to lock down the economy and society. But reopening the state has exposed the organisational deficiencies in Victoria’s health services.
No public health units in local health districts, as happens in other states, is a significant shortfall. The Victorian model centralises power, which reduces the skills and abilities of local health districts to manage outbreaks when they occur. They are the frontline in controlling this.
And Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, sits three levels below the Premier and Health Minister, reducing his line-management rights and responsibilities and hampering his ability to make decisions swiftly in what needs to be a fast-paced response setting.
Sutton isn’t even a deputy secretary within Victoria’s health bureaucracy, as the chief health officers are in similarly large states such as NSW and Queensland. In fact, all other states classify their CHOs as a deputy secretary or equivalent for reporting purposes. In Victoria, the CHO is merely one of seven direct reports to one of the five deputy secretaries who report to the secretary of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. Which means he is a long way down the totem pole.
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