The Hon. Jill Hennessy

The Hon. Jill Hennessy is a distinguished former Victorian Attorney General and Minister for Health, with more than a decade of Parliamentary and Cabinet experience until December 2022. She has forged a reputation for strong strategic leadership and a commitment to positive change for the Victorian community.

In her several Ministerial portfolios, Jill’s innovative approach enabled some of the largest Health and Justice reforms in the State. Some of these have become benchmarks for other governments, most notably the ground-breaking Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation. As Minister for Workplace Safety, Jill introduced significant occupational safety and workplace manslaughter reforms, as well as the Health Complaints Commission.

Jill is a Monash alumna with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts, and holds a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne. She is currently Non-Executive Director on a number of boards, including Scope (Aust) Ltd and the Western Bulldogs Foundation, and a member of the Sir Zelman Cohen Advisory Committee. Jill has also published a monograph on respect as part of Monash University Publishing’s In the National Interest book series.

As a Vice-Chancellor’s Professorial Fellow, Jill’s role involves consultation with Monash’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences regarding future plans and strategy for its hospital network, and providing strategic advice to the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture with regard to the design of a multidisciplinary ‘Future Health’ initiative. She also provides strategic advice to the Vice-Chancellor and President, and contributes to advancing and promoting Monash University, its staff and students within the wider community.