Hugh Jackman's performance in his latest role has been praised as "the best performance of his career" and "Oscar worthy".

The veteran Australian actor plays Frank Tassone in new HBO movie Bad Education, available to stream on Foxtel Now from May 17.

The film, which has already premiered in the US and co-stars Oscar winner Allison Janney, follows a fraud scandal that rocked a Long Island high school in 2002, in an astonishing true story described as the biggest school embezzlement case in US history.

Jackman fills the role of the superintendent of the school district, with Janney playing his accomplice, superintendent Pamela Gluckin.

The pair collude to pull off an extraordinary embezzlement crime, managing to steal an eye-watering $US11.2 million over a dozen years as dramatised in the gripping thriller.

But it's 51-year-old Jackman's performance as a charismatic, closeted gay man that is earning praise from viewers.

Jackman has already been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in 2013 for Les Miserables, but Daniel Day-Lewis took home the gong for Lincoln.

Unfortunately, he'll miss out on a potential Academy Award nomination for Bad Education, because it's a HBO film that won't be released in theatres. However he would be in contention for an Emmy nod.

The role is particularly exciting for fans of Jackman, marking a significant shift in his career from his universally-popular Wolverine films.

Directed by Corey Finley and adapted by screenwriter Mike Makowsky, the movie also co-stars Ray Romano as the school board president Bob Spicer, and Geraldine Viswanathan as high school student, Rachel Bhargava.

Bad Education hits streaming on Foxtel Now on May 17

Originally published as Jackman's new role dubbed 'Oscar worthy'