Jeannette Rosita Young (born 1963) is an Australian medical doctor and administrator who is currently

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, governor-general at the national level, the governor Governors of ...

, since 1 November 2021. Before being sworn in as Governor, Young was Chief Health Officer of Queensland from 2005 to 2021.

Career

Young was born in 1963 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. She attended secondary school at St Ives High School, graduating in 1980, before studying at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

and graduating in 1986 with a

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

. She started her career as a doctor at Westmead Hospital in Sydney in 1986 where she completed her internship and one year as a resident medical officer before completing 4.5 years as a registrar in emergency medicine. In July 1992 she moved in to medical administration at the same hospital. She relocated to Queensland upon her appointment as director of medical services at Rockhampton Hospital in December 1994. In April 1995, she attained a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

. She then moved into a position similar to her role in Rockhampton, as executive director of medical services at Princess Alexandra Hospital in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, in January 1999. On 17 August 2005, she was appointed to succeed Gerry FitzGerald as Chief Health Officer of Queensland. She gained prominence during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020, holding multiple press briefings regarding the disease. Her recommendation to the Palaszczuk Government to close the state's borders, which was implemented, proved controversial as she received numerous death threats and was placed under police protection in September 2020. On 21 June 2021, the then-

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023. She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 unt ...

announced Young would become the 27th Governor of Queensland. The incumbent Governor Paul de Jersey was due to retire in July 2021, but extended his term until November to allow Young to focus on the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...

rollout as Chief Health Officer.

Honours

Degrees

* 1986:

from the University of Sydney * 1995:

from Macquarie University

Fellowships

* 2004: Fellow of the

Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators The Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA) is an accredited specialist medical college comprising medical practitioners with specialist training in management and leadership of health services and systems. Fellows of the co ...

Honorary degrees

* 2015: Honorary doctorate from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

* 2017: Honorary doctorate from

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

Honorary appointments

* 1 November 2021, as of her swearing in as governor **

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

, Regimental

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Royal Queensland Regiment. ** Order of St John, Deputy Prior of the Order of St John. **

Scouts Australia Scouts Australia is a trading name of The Scout Association of Australia, which is the largest scouting organisation in Australia, with over 50,000 Youth Program Participants, and is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. It ...

, Chief Scout of Scouts Australia QLD ** Honorary,

Air Commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...

of No. 23 Squadron RAAF

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Jeannette Living people 1963 births Medical doctors from Sydney Companions of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian medical doctors 20th-century Australian public servants 21st-century Australian medical doctors 21st-century Australian public servants Australian health officials University of Sydney alumni Recipients of the Public Service Medal (Australia) Governors of Queensland 21st-century Australian women medical doctors 20th-century Australian women medical doctors 21st-century Australian women public servants Women governors of the Australian states