Sir William Refshauge was an innovative administrator who pioneered many initiatives in Australian health and medical practice. Probably his greatest contribution was as the director-general of the Commonwealth Health Department.

Four initiatives stood out from his time at the departmentment: doctors' fees, dental care, alcohol and drug abuse, and dung beetles. To make health care more affordable, the Government wanted to bring in a price benchmark: the common fee. It fell to Refshauge to get the AMA to support the scheme, which he did within three months. The common fee later became the scheduled fee, an essential element for the implementation of Medicare.

Free dental care in schools was introduced under his direction. In 1965, with Refshauge as chairman, the National Health and Medical Research Council recommended that Australia give consideration to dental auxiliary personnel for children. This led to the introduction of dental therapists; there are now more than 1500.

From his early days as a health administrator, he recognised the problem of alcohol and drug abuse. He used all his negotiating skills, in the face of rejection, to never let this off the agenda and finally got harm minimisation schemes into place.

He, with others, was responsible for the importation of dung beetles into Australia in 1966, as the beginning of the program to bring the problem of sheep and cow dung under control and minimise the fly population.

Sir William also facilitated the investigation of Thalidomide, legalisation of: the advertising of contraceptives, expansion of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, universal vaccinations, improvement in Aboriginal health and improved quarantine. He initiated anti-smoking campaigns and extended fluoridation.

His work brought international recognition. He led the Australian delegation to the World Health Organisation each year from 1962 to 1973 and was knighted in 1966. In 1971 he was the first, and so far only, Australian to be elected president of the World Health Assembly.

William Dudley Duncan Refshauge, who has died aged 96, was born in Carlton, Victoria, the son of Francis, a school principal, and his wife, Margaret Craig. He was educated at Hampton High School and Scotch College, where he rowed in the 1st Eight and played in 1st XVIII football team. His father died in 1930 and his mother sold their Melbourne home to move to a dairy farm in the country. He worked on the farm while completing his medical degree at Melbourne University, where he was awarded a Blue for rowing. He graduated in 1938 and became a resident medical officer at the Alfred Hospital in 1939.

At the Alfred he met Sister Helen Allwright and they married in August 1942, after he had returned from the Middle East, where he had been a medical officer in Bardia, Tobruk, Greece and Crete. He also served in New Guinea and the invasion of Borneo in 1945. He was awarded the OBE in 1944 and mentioned in dispatches four times.

During the Korean War in 1951, he rejoined the army and became deputy director-general of Army Health Services. In 1955 he was appointed the director-general of Army Medical services and promoted to major-general.

He was an inspirational regimental medical officer who was not afraid to speak in the interest of his patients. He also helped in establishing the School of Army Health. He served as a national trustee of the RSL from 1962 until his death and was a strong supporter of Legacy. He was made a life member of the RSL and in 1990 was awarded the ANZAC Peace Prize for his contribution to world health and peace. In 1959 he was awarded the CBE for his services to the army and in 1955 was appointed an honorary physician to the Queen.

After the war he joined the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and in 1948 became the medical superintendent of Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital. There he became concerned about the high deathrate of premature babies. Many of those deaths were caused by the babies becoming too cold immediately after birth so, with the hospital engineer, he designed and built the first portable humidicrib, which kept the new-born warm and supplied oxygen if needed.

At the instigation of Dame Pattie Menzies, he became the director-general of the Commonwealth Health Department. In that role he was responsible for the building of the then-named Woden Valley Hospital and entered into an agreement with the Little Company of Mary for the construction of Canberra's Calvary Hospital.

In 1977 he was appointed to the council of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, which he helped to develop further. He remained on the board until 1985. He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1980.

He was passionate about the ethics of medicine and had an eye for individual patients in his care, coupled with a vision for what would benefit the whole population.

Sir William Refshauge is survived by his sons Bill, Richard, Andrew (a former NSW deputy premier) and Michael, daughter Kathryn and their families. Lady Refshauge died in 2002.