The Commissioner for Children and Young People is Leanne McLean.
Leanne has lived in Tasmania all her life. She grew up in the deep south of Tasmania and moved to Hobart where she went to a government high school and college. After school, Leanne studied science at the University of Tasmania, where she won a karaoke competition (Leanne really loves music and singing).
Leanne has been the Commissioner for Children and Young People since 2018. She loves chatting with young Tasmanians to hear how life’s going and what’s important to you. You can email Leanne at childcomm@childcomm.tas.gov.au or call her on (03) 6166 1366 to tell her your thoughts about any issues affecting young Tasmanians.
Leanne’s job as Commissioner is to stand up for the rights and wellbeing of all Tasmanian children and young people aged under 18 and to influence decision-makers who can affect all your lives. Leanne makes sure that laws and policies that affect you are fair and that decision-makers keep the promises they make to all children and young people living in Tasmania. She particularly keeps an eye out for groups of young Tasmanians who find it hard to have a say, including those in the youth justice system and in out of home care, and helps them be heard. Although normally Leanne can only speak up for young Tasmanians as a group, she does have a special role to speak up for the rights of individual children and young people in youth detention.
- Leanne loves to sing (sometimes in meetings!) and used to be in a band.
- She has a cat called Penny who rules Leanne and her family.
- Leanne has had many jobs, including working on a boat.
- Leanne plays ukulele and goes mountain biking (not at the same time but she’s working on it!).
