Professor Jim Bishop AO

Professor Jim Bishop is the Department of Health and Ageing's Chief Medical Officer.

Professor Jim Bishop AO is Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Government and is the principal medical adviser to the Minister and the Department of Health and Ageing. He plays a key, strategic role in developing and administering major health reforms for all Australians. In particular his close association with Australia’s medical fraternities and researchers will be crucial in the development of evidence based public health policy.

Prior to his appointment Professor Bishop was a Professor of Cancer Medicine at the University of Sydney, Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (FRCPA) in haematology. He was awarded a Doctorate of Medicine by research thesis (Platelet Transfusion Therapy) in 1990 and a Master of Medicine by research thesis (Induction Therapy for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia) in 1999. Professor Bishop was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1995 he was a consultant medical oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute in Melbourne. From 1995 to 2003, Professor Bishop was the Director of the Sydney Cancer Centre at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Concord Hospital in Sydney and he also directed the Cancer Service for the Central Sydney Area Health Service. From 2003 to April 2009 he was the CEO of the Cancer Institute NSW and the Chief Cancer Officer for NSW.

In 2008 Professor Bishop was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to medicine, particularly in the field of cancer treatment and research.

Professor Bishop will represent the Department on a wide number of committees and organisations that relate to the broad activities of the Department of Health and Ageing.

These Committees are:

Australian Animal Health Laboratory Advisory Council
Australian Government Advisory Committee (WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research of Influenza)
Australian Health Protection Committee (AHPC)
Australian Health Ministers' Conference (AHMC) Prescribing Rights for Non-Medical Professions Working Group (Chair)
Australian Medical Council (AMC)
Australian Population Health Development Principal Committee (APHDPC)
Australian Population Health Development Principal Committee Expert Advisory Group (APHDPCEAG)
Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) Advisory Board
BeyondBlue
Cancer Australia Research Advisory Committee
Chemical, Biological, Radiological Group (CBR)
Clinical, Technical and Ethical Principal Committee (CTEPC)
Committee of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC)
Committee for the Review of the Dental Benefits Act 2008 (Chair)
Health Privacy Forum (Privacy Commission)
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC)
Ministerial Advisory Committee on AIDS, Sexual Health and Hepatitis
National Director of Quarantine
National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) - Special Expert Committee on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (SECTSE)
National Youth Mental Health Foundation Advisory Board (Headspace)
Pharmaceutical Industry Working Group (PIWG) Clinical Trials Subgroup
Scientific Influenza Advisory Group (SIAG)
Special Education Accreditation Committee (SEAC)
Vaccine Advisory Group Committee (VAG)