Dr Adam Tomison - Director General

Dr Adam Tomison is internationally recognised as an expert in the prevention of child abuse and family violence, and the development of child protection and family support systems. For over two decades he has worked with a range of government and non-government organisations and advocacy groups in Australia and overseas.

He first became well known for his work developing the National Child Protection Clearinghouse, an internationally-recognised centre for excellence and the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault while at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Dr Tomison is currently appointed as the Director General of the Western Australian Department of Justice. Prior to this position he was the Director and Chief Executive of the Australian Institute of Criminology from 2009 to 2015 and had previously held various senior executive positions within the Northern Territory Department of Health and Families, including time as the Director of the NT’s statutory child protection and family support services.

He is currently a board member of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (Canada). Previously he has been a member of the Executive Council of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a board member of the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) Australia, an Honorary Professor at Australian Catholic University (ACU) and member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Child Protection Studies (ACU), and a member of the Criminal Justice Working Group of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Dr Tomison graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology from Deakin University and completed his PhD at Monash University. He received an inaugural Deakin Alumni of the Year Award in 2011 for outstanding service and achievement in his profession and the community.