Professor Faye McMillan AM was the first Indigenous Australian to hold a university degree in pharmacy in Australia, and was named Australian Pharmacist of the year in 2022 for her contribution to community pharmacy, rural and remote communities, and for her work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
Alongside her role as Professor of Indigenous Health with the UTS School of Public Health, Professor McMillan is seconded to the Department of Health and Aged Care as the National Deputy Commissioner of Allied Health and First Nations health within the Office of the National Rural Health Commissioner.
Tell me about yourself and the work you do.
I’m a Wiradjuri woman from Trangie in central west New South Wales, and still very fortunate to live and work on Wiradjuri country. I'm a practicing community pharmacist, and I’ve just been made a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. There are only 265 Fellows in the country out of all of the pharmacists, so that’s a real honour.
I am also an Atlantic Fellow for social equity with the Atlantic Institute and seven other Atlantic hubs around the globe looking at various issues that are impacting First Nations and people of marginalised and under underserved communities, and a Senior Fellow of the Advanced Higher Education Academy for my work within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. In 2021, I was made a member of the Order of Australia for my services to Indigenous mental health and the tertiary higher education sector.
Read the full article: Leading change in First Nations health.