Former Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Medical Association in Tasmania. She was the first female Premier of the State and stayed in the top job for more than three years.
Prior to leading the State and the Tasmanian Parliamentary Labor Party, Ms Giddings had also served as Health Minister under the premiership of Paul Lennon and oversaw the planning of the replacement Royal Hobart Hospital.
Even earlier, Ms Giddings served as the State’s Economic Development Minister and Minster for the Arts.
She was first elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1996 at the age of 23, making her the youngest woman elected to an Australian parliament. She lost her seat in 1998 but returned to Parliament in the 2002 election.
She served as Tasmania’s 44th Premier from January 24, 2011 until March 31, 2014. After her Government’s defeat at the 2014 election, the former Premier remained in Parliament as a backbencher before retiring from politics at the 2018 State election.
Ms Giddings’ substantial leadership, health and economic experience have made her a standout appointment for the position as AMA Tasmania CEO.
“As Health Minister, I loved working with the health sector and I was proud to work with doctors to help drive reform to our health system through the Tasmania Health Plan,” she said.
“In this new role, I look forward to working with doctors to provide constructive advice to the Government on how to improve our health system as well as provide support to doctors in their everyday working lives.
“There are many issues confronting our health system across the preventative, primary and acute sectors as demand for services increases.”
Ms Giddings steps into the role in March, taking over from Tony Steven, who was the CEO for ten years.
