Senior public servant Blair Comley will take over from retiring department head Brendan Murphy as the new secretary for health and aged care.

Professor Murphy announced his retirement in April.

Mr Comley’s public service positions include being Secretary of the Department of  Resources, Energy and Tourism and the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency between 2011-13.

He was secretary of the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet for three years from 2014, joining consultancy group EY Port Jackson Partners as Net Zero Centre Leader and Partner in 2018 and leading projects across energy, government, transport, the water and human services.

Health minister Mark Butler welcomed the news of Mr Comley’s appointment, saying he had an outstanding record of public service.

“Mr Comley has a wealth of experience and a record of proven leadership navigating complex issues,” the minister said in a statement.

Professor Murphy will quit his post on July 6.

New appointment to SBS board

Cassandra Wilkinson, a senior executive with NSW Treasury, has been appointed to the SBS Board.

Ms Wilkinson will serve as a non-executive director to the SBS Board for five years.

As well as being Executive Director of Transport, Infrastructure and Investment at Treasury, Ms Wilkinson is a director and former vice resident of the NSW Council of Civil Liberties and former vice president of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA).

She is also a previous director of Music NSW.

Communications minister Michelle Rowland said Ms Wilkinson was well qualified to support SBS in providing multilingual and multicultural media services to inform, educate and entertain Austrailans.

“Ms Wilkinson’s skills and experience, including community broadcasting, will support the SBS in making use of Australia’s creative resources and contributing to the overall diversity of Australian media services,” she said in a statement.