Professor Leah Bromfield

Child protection expert

2025 SA Australian of the Year

Professor Leah Bromfield has devoted her life to establishing practical, evidence-based solutions to child abuse and neglect – important but challenging work. 

Currently the director and chair of child protection at the Australian Centre for Child Protection, Leah developed the first evidence-based analysis of child protection practice frameworks. She informed improvements including the development of a new framework in South Australia and was on the team which advocated for – and got – the first National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children in 2007. 

Over two decades, Leah has risen to become one of the most trusted researchers in the field. Her calls for transformation and radical redesign have led to world-first insights and contributed to significant changes in our understanding of, and responses to, child abuse and neglect.  

She’s leading the development of a new child protection vision for South Australia, exploring unconventional approaches and interrogating assumptions to break the cycle of abuse.