Richard Murray

Professor Richard Murray has a career focussed on the healthcare needs of underserved populations, in rural medicine, Indigenous health, tropical health and socially accountable health professional education. A medical practitioner with qualifications in rural general practice and public health, he is Senior Clinical Lead, Rural Health Systems with Queensland Health. Professor Murray has a record of achievement in shaping Australian health and medical workforce policy. He has a national and international profile in medical education and in rural health and medicine and has held a range of leadership roles. 

Dean of the College of Medicine and Dentistry at James Cook University (JCU) to September 2024 and formerly Deputy Vice Chancellor of the then Division of Tropical Heath and Medicine at JCU, Professor Murray is also the immediate past President of Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand, a past President of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine,  Chair of the Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators, a member of the Council of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Medical Workforce Reform Advisory Committee 

Prior to joining JCU as Planning Director of the Rural Clinical School in 2005, Professor Murray spent 14 years in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, including 12 years as the Medical Director of the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council, a position in which he had broad clinical, population health, teaching, research and medical leadership and management roles.