Sonya Bennett

QIMR Berghofer - Council Member

Dr Sonya Bennett AM

MBBS FRACGP MPHTM FAFPHM GAICD

Dr Sonya Bennett is a practicing public health physician and has Fellowships with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine. During her career, she has worked in Queensland Health, the Australian Defence Force, and in the academic research sector acquiring a broad range of management, leadership and governance experience to complement broad technical expertise in the fields of general medicine, communicable diseases and incident management.

Dr Bennett’s previous roles include the Deputy Chief Medical Officer in the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, and the Executive Director of the Communicable Diseases Branch and Deputy Chief Health Officer at Queensland Health. Dr Bennett has been a member of numerous committees including the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, and the Communicable Disease Network of Australia, of which she was also Chair from July 2019- July 2021.

Dr Bennett is a Commodore in the Royal Australian Navy, the current Director-General Navy Health Reserves, and she will take up the position of Surgeon General/Commander of Joint Health of the Australian Defence Force on promotion in December 2023.