Premier

Statement From The Premier On Ken Lay

12 August 2022

Ken Lay, one of our longest-serving and most trusted public sector leaders in Victoria, has informed me of his decision to step down from his public sector board commitments as Chair of Forensicare and Ambulance Victoria.

I want to congratulate Mr Lay for five decades of tireless service and commitment to the Victorian community – driving reforms to improve public safety and health outcomes for our state.

Throughout his career, Mr Lay has been a vocal advocate for the most vulnerable in our community.

His leadership on family violence, both at Victoria Police and through the establishment of the state’s first Royal Commission into Family Violence, was instrumental in transforming the way we deal with family violence, not only in Victoria, but across the country.

He has supported the Victorian community during some of our state’s most challenging times. Following the devastating summer bushfires of 2020, as chair of Bushfire Recovery Victoria, Mr Lay visited bushfire-affected communities to ensure their voices were at the centre of recovery efforts.

As Chair of the Boards of both Forensicare and Ambulance Victoria, Mr Lay has helped drive large-scale reform in both organisations over a period when the state has experienced significant growth in demand for mental health and health services, and more recently, unprecedented challenges from the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Lay’s leadership has helped instigate and drive cultural change at our largest and most important state organisations. At Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria, he commissioned independent human rights reviews to help make these organisations safer, fairer and more inclusive.

Mr Lay finishes as Chair of Forensicare and Ambulance Victoria on 25 August. An announcement of replacements will be made in due course.

He will continue his important work on a report, including targeted engagement with Ambulance Victoria and Victoria Police, into the best location for a supervised injecting room in the CBD. Shifting patterns of drug harms in the CBD have prompted an extension of Mr Lay’s work which is expected to be completed by early next year.

On behalf of the Government, I would like to thank Mr Lay for his dedicated service to the Victorian community and I wish him and his family all the best.

Reviewed 12 August 2022

Was this page helpful?