About the Commissioner and her Office

About the Women’s Safety Commissioner

Dr Hannah Tonkin commenced as the inaugural NSW Women's Safety Commissioner in February 2023. In this role, she provides leadership and oversight across the whole of NSW Government to strengthen responses to domestic, family and sexual violence.

Previously the Commissioner worked as an international human rights lawyer and policy adviser at the United Nations, as the Director of Disability Rights at the Australian Human Rights Commission, and as a barrister in London and Adelaide.

While at the United Nations, she worked in a range of conflict and post-conflict contexts including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Gaza, Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia, with a focus on protecting civilians, prosecuting war crimes, and addressing sexual exploitation and abuse.  

The Office of the Women’s Safety Commissioner

The Commissioner’s work is supported by the Office of the Women’s Safety Commissioner, which has four small teams:

• Policy and Projects
• Engagement and Awareness
• Relationships and Governance
• Executive Support.

Women's Safety Commissioner's Strategic Priorities

The Commissioner launched Working together to address domestic, family and sexual violence: NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner Strategic Plan 2024–2027 (PDF, 2.9 MB) in March 2024.  

The Strategic Plan 2024 – 2027 sets out six overarching priority areas to inform and underpin all aspects of her work. These strategic priorities focus on improving ways of working across the whole system, strengthening accountability, and driving broader societal change to address domestic, family and sexual violence.

• Priority 1: Ensure that people with lived experience are at the centre
• Priority 2: Enhance oversight, monitoring and accountability for delivery of the NSW Domestic and Family Violence Plan 2022-2027 (PDF, 1.8 MB) and the NSW Sexual Violence Plan 2022-2027 (PDF, 1.7 MB)
• Priority 3: Promote safe, accessible and integrated responses
• Priority 4: Champion a greater focus on primary prevention
• Priority 5: Strengthen workforces and informal support networks
• Priority 6: Support women’s economic safety and security
  

Learn more about the Commissioner’s work: 

• Mobilising community
• Research and reform
• Lived Experience Advisory Group.