Jeannette Young

Jeannette Rosita Young (born 1962/1963) is an Australian medical doctor and administrator who is currently Chief Health Officer of Queensland. She has served in the role since 2005, and is as of 2020 Australia's longest-serving current chief health officer.
Career.
Raised in Sydney, New South Wales, Young attended secondary school at St Ives High School, graduating in 1980, before studying at the University of Sydney and graduating in 1986 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. She started her career as a doctor at Westmead Hospital in Sydney in 1986 before moving into medical administration at the same hospital in July 1992.
She relocated to Queensland upon her appointment as Director of Medical Services at Rockhampton Hospital in December 1994. In April 1995, she was awarded a Master of Business Administration by Macquarie University. She then moved into a position similar to her role in Rockhampton, as Executive Director of Medical Services at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, in January 1999.
On 17 August 2005, she was appointed to succeed Gerry FitzGerald as Chief Health Officer of Queensland, a role she holds to this day. She gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic 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.
Honours.
Young has been a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators since November 2004. She has also received honorary doctorates from Griffith University, in 2015, and Queensland University of Technology, in 2017.
In 2015, she was awarded the Public Service Medal for "outstanding public service to Queensland Health".