Philip Davies joined the Australian Government's Department of Health & Ageing as a Deputy Secretary in 2002 and brings to the role more than 25 years' international experience in health care policy and management. As a member of the Department’s Executive he has had responsibility for policy development and program management in a variety of areas including medical and pharmaceutical benefits, health workforce, e-health, rural health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and private health insurance. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand, he served on the Board of the National Blood Authority and chaired the Australian Government’s Gene Technology Standing Committee. In December 2005 Mr Davies was also appointed as Transitional Director of the Joint Agency Establishment Group tasked with setting up the proposed Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Authority.

After graduating in Mathematics, Mr Davies worked for five years with the Department of Health & Social Security in London before joining Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) as a health care management consultant. In 1991 he transferred to Auckland, New Zealand and in 1995 he became a partner in the firm's consultancy practice in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In 1997 Mr Davies joined the New Zealand Ministry of Health as a Deputy Director-General, leading the development of policy and legislation underpinning the most recent reorganisation of New Zealand's health system in 2000. He then spent 18 months as a Senior Health Economist with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva before moving to Australia.

Mr Davies holds a Masters degree in Management Science and Operational Research. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Health Services Research Centre at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and has provided consultancy advice on health policy to the World Bank and WHO.