Bronwyn studied medicine at the University of Melbourne and began her career treating lung cancer patients at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
While doing her best to help her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco – many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has championed the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. She led the development of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, a global initiative backed by President Macron, UN agencies and the World Health Organisation. The Pledge now has 138 Signatories – leading financial institutions from more than 20 countries that control a combined total of US$10 trillion. Dr King’s 2017 TEDxSydney talk has been viewed more than three million times.
Dr King is also a former elite swimmer who represented Australia and for ten years worked as Team Doctor for the Australian Swimming Team. Dr King has received numerous awards in recognition of her unique contribution to local and global health, including being appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to community health. She was the 2019 Melburnian of the Year, an award bestowed by the City of Melbourne.
Bronwyn is a fellow of Leadership Victoria’s Williamson Community Leadership Program and in 2014 she was listed as one of the Westpac/Australian Financial Review 100 Women on Influence. In 2015 Bronwyn was Awarded the VicHealth Award for Preventing Tobacco Use. In 2016 she received the Dr Bob Elphick medal for tobacco control from the Australian Council on Smoking and Health and in 2017 she was made the Inaugural Distinguished Fellow in a joint initiative between Kings’ College London and the University of Melbourne.
Dr Bronwyn King AO
