
Rear Admiral Sonya Bennett AM
Commander Joint Health and Surgeon
General Australian Defence Force
Rear Admiral (RADM) Sonya Bennett AM commenced her
tenure as Commander Joint Health and Surgeon General of the
Australian Defence Force on 1 December 2023. RADM
Bennett is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General
Practitioners and the Australasian Faculty of Public Health
Medicine. In addition to her medical qualifications, RADM
Bennett is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
RADM Bennett joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1991 in her final years as an
undergraduate medical student; and subsequently served across a wide range of
postings, including within the submarine squadron at HMAS Platypus and the supply
ship HMAS Success. Highlights of this period include spending time at sea aboard
Oberon class submarines, as well as being embedded within a US aircraft carrier
during RIMPAC 96.
RADM Bennett’s later service included postings as Research Manager of the Army
Malaria Institute during the United Nations mission in support of East Timor when
malaria and dengue were problems for our forces, and later as the inaugural Research
Manager and Chief of Operations at the Centre for Military and Veterans Health. It
was during her tenure in these postings that RADM Bennett became passionate about
public health.
RADM Bennett transferred to Reserve service in 2009, allowing her to pursue these
interests. While serving as Executive Director Communicable Diseases in Queensland
Health, RADM Bennett and her team were instrumental in implementing vaccination
program reform for the State of Queensland, including being the first State to
introduce pertussis vaccination for pregnant women and influenza vaccination for
children under 5 years old. In her Navy Reserve capacity, RADM Bennett participated
in Pacific Partnership 15 within USNS Mercy. Later, as Deputy Chief Health Officer,
RADM Bennett led much of the planning and implementation of Queensland’s public
health response, and chaired the Communicable Disease Network of Australia during
the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following her service with Queensland Health, RADM Bennett was appointed Deputy
Chief Medical Officer in the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care,
continuing to work on the COVID-19 pandemic response amongst other public health
priorities. During this period, RADM Bennett continued her Reserve work as Director
General Navy Health Reserves, and as a Council Member of the QIMR Berghofer.
In 2023, RADM Bennett was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the
General Division for significant service to public health leadership roles.