Professor Jenny May AM

Professor Jenny May AM was appointed as the National Rural Health Commissioner for Australia in July 2024 and commenced the role on 2 September 2024.

Professor May has been passionate about rural health since her first rural medical student placement in 1980 and then as a trainee rural doctor to Tamworth Hospital in 1985.

In 2004 Professor May returned from practice in remote WA to set up a community owned not for profit general practice with a focus on team-based care. She consolidated this interest in a PhD exploring the medical workforce in regional centres in Australia.

Professor May calls Tamworth home and has had the incredible privilege to live and work with her doctor husband and family in a number of rural and regional locations, including 5 years in the Pilbara region in Western Australia. She has also worked in communities with workforce need in rural Canada.

Professor May holds fellowships with RACGP and ACRRM and has extensive experience in clinical practice, research, education, and rural health advocacy and in 2016 was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to community health in rural and regional areas, as a general practitioner, member of professional medical groups, and as an educator.

Alongside her continuing general practice work at Peel Health Care in Tamworth, New South Wales, previous professional and leadership roles held by Professor May include:

• Betty Fyffe Chair of Rural Health and Director, University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health
• Director, University of Newcastle Regional Training Hub
• Co-Chair, Commonwealth Government Medical Workforce Reform Advisory Committee (2019-2024)
• Trainee Supervisor, Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
• Member, New South Wales Regional Health Ministerial Advisory Committee (2021-2024)
• (Past) Chair and long-term Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) representative, National Rural Health Alliance (2000-2024)
• (Past) Chair, Federation of Rural Medical Educators (FRAME) and Board member Australian Rural Health Education Network (ARHEN)