University of South Australia child protection expert Professor Leah Bromfield, who has devoted her life to establishing practical, evidence-based solutions to child abuse and neglect, has been named the 2025 Australian of the Year for South Australia.
Bromfield is Director and Chair of Child Protection at UniSA’s Australian Centre for Child Protection (ACCP) and received the award from the SA Premier Peter Malinauskas at the Adelaide Convention Centre last night.
She will join winners from each state and territory for a national reception with the Prime Minister in Canberra.
Advocacy and transformation
Judges described the 46-year-old as “one of the most trusted researchers in her field,” noting her advocacy for Australia’s first National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children in 2007.
Bromfield’s calls for transformation and radical redesign have led to world-first insights and contributed to significant changes in the understanding of, and responses to, child abuse and neglect. She currently leads the development of a new child protection vision for SA, by exploring unconventional approaches to break the cycle of abuse.
As she accepted the award, Bromfield paid tribute to the thousands of people working in Australia’s child protection sector.
““I go to work every day knowing that I’m part of making a difference, that we’re doing the research and developing policy and resources to actually change practice on the ground,” she says.
“The work is hard and not very glamorous, but it is critical for our young people. Our decisions and actions are making it better for kids, families and practitioners, including the frontline workers who are doing their best to help children and families in need.”
Bromfield describes the current child protection system as “a blunt instrument”.
“We’ve got a system where, if you’re worried about child abuse or neglect, the first place you go is child protection, which is horrible for families,” she says.
“Imagine if we told people to go to A&E before a GP if they had any health concerns? We need to make some fundamental changes in our processes.”
Unwavering commitment to social justice
The ACCP Director told the award event audience that she had always been driven by a sense of social justice.
“At university, I discovered research and found that you could affect the lives of so many people in a positive way,” Bromfield says.
“When it comes to child protection, there is so much opportunity to effect change. The need is immense. 60 per cent of Australians have experienced at least some form of abuse or neglect and while we do have successes, we are hampered by the current system, which is not working. We need radical transformation.
“However, academics and government can’t do this work alone. We need public support. To improve outcomes, we need to make the sector smaller, not bigger, and that means we have all got to play a part.”
