Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) has strengthened its leadership at a critical national moment, announcing four senior appointments to advance evidence-driven strategies to end violence against women and children.
The appointments come as Australia confronts gendered violence, including women being killed by partners or former partners, escalating coercive control, and youth-on-youth assaults — prompting urgent calls for stronger prevention, earlier intervention, and evidence-led reform.
Joining the ANROWS Executive are:
- Dr Kristin Diemer, a leading international expert in family violence research and data systems, as Director of Research;
- Lucy Macmillan, a senior evaluation and impact specialist with two decades’ experience across domestic violence, justice, and public health sectors, as Director of Evaluation and Impact;
- Anandini Mayuran, a strategy and organisational development leader with expertise spanning philanthropy, public policy and governance, as Director of Strategy and Organisational Development.
- Dr Meredith Nash, an internationally recognised gender equity leader and former National Lead for Respect@Work at KPMG Australia, who also led the transformative 2022 Nash Review of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Australian Antarctic Program, as Director of Communications and Engagement;
ANROWS CEO Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine said the new leadership team reflects ANROWS’s commitment to ensuring that evidence translates into urgent action that improves lives.
“As rates of gendered violence remain devastatingly high, we need to do more than simply understand the problem — we also need to ensure well-informed action to address it. Our new leadership team brings deep expertise across research, communications, evaluation and strategy, strengthening ANROWS’ ability to inform policy, practice and community action to better prevent and respond to domestic, family and sexual violence,” Dr Boyd-Caine said.
The appointments set the stage for the upcoming ANROWS Conference 2025, which will focus on centring the voices and experiences of children and young people affected by domestic, family and sexual violence.
Dr Meredith Nash said that shifting public conversations is essential to systemic change.
“Research is only powerful if it changes conversations and decisions. My focus is on ensuring that ANROWS evidence reaches the public, government and community in ways that drive action — because shifting culture and systems starts with shifting how we talk about gendered violence,” Dr Nash said.
Incoming Director of Research Dr Kristin Diemer said strengthening Australia’s evidence base — and ensuring it is applied — would be a central focus.
“Australia leads the world in research on gendered violence — but there are still critical gaps we must fill. My focus is on growing the evidence base, partnering across sectors, and ensuring that every piece of knowledge we generate is directly applied to improving safety for women and children,” Dr Diemer said.
ANROWS’s leadership refresh follows recent appointments to its Board and reflects a sharper strategic focus on impact, aligned with the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032.
ENDS
Media contacts:
Fleur Townley | [email protected] | 0405 278 758
Greg Townley | [email protected] | 0414 195 908
Headshots and Director Bios available here
For interview requests, the ANROWS Executive Directors can speak on the following areas of expertise:
- Dr Meredith Nash – Communications and Engagement: Gender equity, workplace sexual harassment prevention and response, psychosocial risk, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) leadership, and the role of communications in systemic change.
- Dr Kristin Diemer – Research: Intimate partner and family violence, research and data systems, technology-facilitated abuse, program evaluation, evidence gaps, and strategies to reduce violence by people who use it.
- Lucy Macmillan – Evaluation and Impact: Evidence-based approaches, frontline evaluation, impact measurement in the violence prevention sector, progress indicators under the National Plan, and insights into ‘what works’.
- Anandini Mayuran – Strategy and Organisational Development: Strategic leadership in not-for-profits, investing in organisational capability, innovation in research-driven contexts, and global perspectives on philanthropic and social impact.
Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine, CEO of ANROWS, is also available for interviews on broader issues relating to gendered violence, policy reform, and national research strategy — on request.
About ANROWS
Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) is a not-for-profit independent national research organisation. ANROWS is an initiative of Australia’s National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022. ANROWS was established by the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments of Australia to produce, disseminate and assist in applying evidence for policy and practice addressing violence against women and their children.
ANROWS is the only such research organisation in Australia.
