ANNABELLE DANIEL, OAM

Chief Executive Officer

2021 – Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 Award

As CEO of Women’s Community Shelters (WCS), Annabelle Daniel OAM has worked with local communities around NSW to establish and open ten shelters at Hornsby, Forster, Castle Hill, Penrith, South Penrith, Bayside, Parramatta, Revesby, Camden and Guildford.  She has also been instrumental in the ongoing success of the very first WCS shelter which opened in Manly in 2010. (Now known as Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter.)

She has collaborated with a range of organisations, individuals and stakeholders, from the community and all levels of government to achieve change in the field of homelessness for women and children.

Annabelle is continuing to lead work into the establishment of further shelters, transitional homes and preventative programs to address domestic violence and women’s homelessness in New South Wales and across Australia.

Annabelle’s volunteer roles include Chairing Domestic Violence NSW (the peak body for domestic and family violence services in NSW) and acting as the Independent Member on the New South Wales Coercive Control Implementation Taskforce, along with Chairing the DFV Sector and Lived Expertise Reference Groups.

She has been a leader in women’s homelessness and DFV for over 15 years – also working on the front line as a Shelter Manager and with the Federal Government as a Senior Departmental Leader within Services Australia, overseeing the Child Support Program, and as a Senior Investigator with the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

Significant Awards and Recognition:

2021 – Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 Award

2020 – Medal of the Order of Australia – Queen’s Birthday Honours List

2018 – Harvard Club of Australia – Scholarship2017 – CEO of the Year -Runner Up – Third Sector Awards.

2016 – Emerging NFP Leader – Women’s Agenda Awards

2015 – Woman of the Year (Hornsby) – Establishment of the Hornsby Kuring-gai Women’s Shelter