By Chip Le Grand and Alex Crowe
Clare Looker saw the limits of Victoria’s public health system up close when, as a doctor working inside the government’s pandemic response, she helped investigate the twin outbreaks from quarantine hotels which seeded the state’s devastating second wave.
She is responsible for leading that system into the post-pandemic era after she was confirmed as Brett Sutton’s replacement as chief health officer.
Clare Looker, Victoria’s newly appointed chief health officer.
Looker was part of a small team of public health physicians who found themselves on the Health Department’s front line when the coronavirus crisis hit in February 2020.
She later took a senior role in Victoria’s rebooted approach to contact tracing and case management which, before the arrival of the Delta variant, brought the virus back under control.
A medical doctor with further qualifications in public health and epidemiology, Looker has a strong background in communicable diseases and environmental health. She is also, at age 42, one of the youngest chief health officers to be appointed to the job.
Professor Allen Cheng was a key figure in Victoria’s COVID response.Credit: Joe Armao
Monash Health Professor of Medicine Allen Cheng, who acted as Victoria’s chief health officer and worked alongside Looker at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, described her as “a proper public health person” who would bring a sharp focus to social issues such as obesity, vaping and disease caused by pollution and other environmental issues.
He noted that Victoria’s public health system still lacked the depth and experience of senior personnel that other states were able to draw from. Sutton resigned as chief health officer after an intense four years in the job to become director of health and biosecurity at the CSIRO.
“If this happened to Kerry Chant in NSW, there would be about 10 very senior people who could take over,” Cheng said. “We just don’t have that.”
Victoria’s other experienced public health physicians – Annaliese Van Diemen, Simon Crouch and Finn Romanes – left the Health Department’s central office in the first year of the pandemic to take up lead roles within the newly formed local public health units.
Although the creation of Victoria’s nine suburban and regional public health units was lauded as one of the Andrews government’s most significant health reforms, this year’s state budget slashed funding for the units by 40 per cent over the next two years.
Paul Johnson, an influential figure behind the push to decentralise Victoria’s public health resources and one of the state’s leading infectious disease experts, last week announced his retirement as the director of the North-East Public Health Unit based within the Austin Hospital.
Johnson will be replaced by Van Diemen, who will take over as acting director.
Sutton worked his last day at the Victorian Department of Health on Friday. The department announced Looker as his replacement in its weekly announcement about COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalisations.
Brett Sutton spent a tumultuous four years as Victoria’s chief health officer.Credit: Joe Armao
Looker has agreed to do the job for the next 12 months. In a salute to Sutton, she introduced herself on the social media platform Twitter, which is undergoing a rebranding, as a physician who has spent 13 years wrangling the challenges of public health. “I’m looking forward to continuing his work and using Twitter (or X?) to get to know you,” she wrote.
A Health Department spokesperson said Looker had held several leadership roles since joining the department’s public health team in 2016.
“Looker is highly regarded in the field and has a strong background in public health medicine, particularly in communicable diseases, environmental health and epidemiology,” the statement read.
Sutton thanked Victorians in a final tweet before handing over the reins and social media account handle on Friday.
“Thank you, good folk of Victoria,” Sutton posted. “In the immortal words of Jeff Fenech, I love youse all!”
After announcing his resignation last month, Sutton revealed the toll leading Victoria through the pandemic had taken on him, which included working 16-hour days and receiving death threats.
He acknowledged, with the benefit of hindsight, some aspects of the public health response would have been done differently. Despite becoming a divisive figure in Victoria as a result of his decisions, Sutton was named the 2023 Victorian of the Year for leading the state through the pandemic.
Sutton’s last day on the job coincided with the department announcing it would no longer issue weekly COVID-19 updates via Twitter. COVID data will continue to be updated on the department’s website.
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