Bernadette Tobin

Bernadette Tobin (born 1946) is an Australian Catholic ethicist and professor of philosophy. She is the daughter of political activist and journalist B.A. Santamaria.

Education Tobin was educated at Genazzano College, Kew and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Melbourne in 1968. She also completed a Masters of Education (1977) and a Master of Arts (1983) at the same institution.

Tobin completed her doctoral degree at Cambridge University in politics.

Career Tobin began her career as a teacher. She taught philosophy at Mercy Teachers' College, Melbourne and English at Tottenham Technical School.

Tobin is a founding director of The Plunkett Centre. The centre was established in 1992 as a joint venture between St Vincent's Hospital and the Australian Catholic University. Tobin was appointed a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the Australian Catholic University in 1996. She held this position until 2002.

Tobin is an honorary member of the medical faculty at the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney through the clinical schools at St Vincent's and the Children's Hospital, Westmead respectively.

Tobin has served on the Australian Health Ethics Committee and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research ethics committee. In 2017, Tobin was appointed as a life member of the Pontifical Academy.

Up to 2026 she was president of the International Association of Catholic Bioethics.

Personal life Tobin is married to Terence Tobin, who is a former Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia. As close friends of George Pell, the Tobins visited him frequently in prison and assisted with his communication with lawyers.

Awards In the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours, Tobin was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her work in bioethics, and public advisory and research councils. The papal award was for her service in ethics and education.

Publications

Guest editor (with Steve Matthews) of Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics (2016) Is it justifiable to compel performance by a doctor in violation of conscience? Australasian Catholic Record, January 2019 Female Genital Mutilation and the role of health-care practitioners (with David Isaacs), Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 53, 2017 Human vulnerability in medical contexts (with Steve Matthews). Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 37, 2016. When doctors and parents disagree. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 50, 2014. Religious Perspectives on Umbilical Cord Blood Banking (with Jordens, C et al.) Journal of Law and Medicine, 19; 2012. Spinal muscular atrophy: do the benefits of ventilation compensate for its burdens? (with Gray, K; Isaacs, D; Kilham, H;) Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 49, 2013.