Child Wise is delighted to announce the appointment of Natalie Siegel-Brown as our new Managing Director effective June 22.
We are very excited for Natalie to join our organisation for a number of reasons, but first we’d like to introduce you to her, and tell you about her current position and previous experience.
Ms Siegel-Brown is the current Queensland Public Guardian
Ms Siegel-Brown is the current Queensland Public Guardian and CEO of the Office of the Public Guardian, where she is the chief advocate for children in the child protection, youth justice, disability and mental health systems.
As Public Guardian, Ms Siegel-Brown dramatically increased support from her agency to individual children and young people, advocating on behalf of thousands of children per year during her four years in the role. Under Ms Siegel-Brown’s leadership, an incredible 97 per cent of issues raised were then resolved – an increase of 85 per cent.
Ms Siegel-Brown also advocated for important changes to youth justice legislation in Queensland, including increasing the non-custodial mandate for children under 14 years, and improved external oversight for the rights of children in detention and police watch houses.
Ms Siegel-Brown has a wealth of knowledge and experience protecting children's rights
Save the Children Australia CEO Paul Ronalds said he was thrilled that Ms Siegel-Brown has decided to join Child Wise.
“Natalie has a wealth of knowledge and experience protecting the rights of children and young people,” Mr Ronalds said.
“She has repeatedly spoken out boldly to protect the most vulnerable children, including those going through the youth justice system. She will be a huge asset to Child Wise.”
Ms Siegel-Brown is honoured to lead Child Wise
“I am honoured to lead Child Wise, a national organisation that has been a leading voice on child rights in the Asia Pacific region for more than 25 years,” Ms Siegel-Brown said.
“The organisation has an incredible track record working to ensure the safety of children and young people across Australia. I look forward to joining the team and to help grow the organisation’s footprint even more. I have always been passionate about protecting and advocating for vulnerable children, and will endeavour to continue doing just this in this exciting national role.”
Ms Siegel-Brown has previous experience in NSW Department of Family and Community Services
Ms Siegel-Brown previously worked as an Executive Director with the NSW Department of Family and Community Services where she led on a range of portfolios including child protection and domestic violence, and as a Director heading up social policy practice at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Pioneering child safe organisational change in Australia
Ms Siegel-Brown has a vision for the future of Child Wise. It is her greatest hope that the work we do will change the confidence and culture of so many organisations, that the quality of life for the current and future generations of children will be better than what went before them.
We're so excited to have Natalie leading our team.