Meet the Executive

Jane is the Executive Director Child, Youth and Family at Life Without Barriers.

As a registered psychologist, Jane has extensive experience in the health and human services sector. She has held senior positions within Medibank, MacKillop Family Services, Save the Children, 1800 RESPECT and worked with children and families for many years. Working closely with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses for Child Sexual Abuse, Jane played a pivotal role in designing the support services for survivors and staff of the Commission.

Jane brings considerable government and policy experience to Life Without Barriers but also has a solid, hands-on understanding of child protection, having worked as a practitioner, manager and trainer for many years.

As Executive Director Child, Youth and Family, Jane leads more over 1300 professionals who are committed to providing the best outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.

Jane is passionate about supporting staff to put the safety and wellbeing of children and young people first in all they do.

Leanne is the Executive Director, Disability and Mental Health at Life Without Barriers. In this role, Leanne leads a team of more than 4,500 dedicated and skilled essential staff, all of whom are committed to improving lives of people with disability and supporting mental health.

Leanne is a highly regarded leader, with experience spanning across disability, mental health, public health, and human services sectors. Before joining Life Without Barriers, Leanne’s most recent role was Executive Director and General Manager of John Hunter Hospital. During her tenure, Leanne led a team of 5,500 staff through the pandemic, ensuring the hospital was in the best position to withstand the impacts of COVID-19.

Leanne remains passionate about both public health and supporting people with disability and supporting mental health. She hopes to continue to bridge the gap between these two industries. Ultimately, whatever Leanne leads, she does it with purpose, respect, and passion. She always stays focused on the person at the centre – whether it be staff members, clients, or the wider community.

Mark is the Chief Operating Officer at Life Without Barriers and is inspired by the positive difference Life Without Barriers makes on people’s lives.  

Mark oversees the commercial, technology and people aspects of the organisation and has a wealth of experience in finance, people, systems and change management. He has extensive experience building and leading high-performing finance and IT functions that deliver business insight, business excellence and leadership. 

Mark has considerable experience leading multi-national companies across Australia and New Zealand, Asia, India and Greater China such as Qantas Airways, Microsoft, Hudson Global, Mylan (Alphapharm) and the University of Technology Sydney. 

Mark’s five-year focus for Life Without Barriers is to enhance commercial capability through effective use of technology and data, improved business efficiency, strategic workforce planning and proactive risk management. 

Mary is the Executive Director, Group Risk Performance and Impact at Life Without Barriers. With more than thirty years of senior experience in a wide range of areas including disability, child, youth and family services, Mary is an experienced leader focused on driving practice improvement through the implementation of evidence-based practices and programs into people-focused service delivery.

As the former Director of Statutory and Forensic Services Design in the Victorian Department of Human Services, Mary was responsible for the design of child protection, youth justice and disability forensic services in Victoria. Mary has also held senior positions including as Director, Regional Operations Performance; Director, Child Protection, Placement and Family Services; Director, Child and Family System Advice (Cummins Inquiry); and Director, Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Strategy Unit.

Mary has a deep commitment to improving the immediate and long-term outcomes of children in out-of-home care and has a passion for relevant research and demonstrable impact measurement that can be shared across the sector.

Brad is the Executive Director of Strategy and Engagement at Life Without Barriers. Brad leads a team of highly skilled professionals across business strategy, partnerships and fundraising, business development, marketing strategy, communications and media and the nurturing of Life Without Barriers foster carers. Brad has significant experience in the provision of human services, especially in programs for children, youth and families, an area of expertise he led during his former role as Deputy Director-General for the Queensland Government – Department of Communities.

Brad has extensive operational experience and considerable expertise in disability services, specifically the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).