Child Death Review Team

Under Part 5A of the Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993, the NSW Ombudsman convenes and supports the NSW Child Death Review Team (CDRT).

The CDRT includes experts in healthcare, child development, child protection and research, as well as representatives of key government agencies.

We maintain a register of all child deaths in NSW. The CDRT analyses this register to identify trends and to find ways to reduce the risk of preventable deaths of children in the future.

As well as convening the CDRT, we also reviews and reports on reviewable deaths in NSW.

Read the CDRT’s Strategic Priorities Plan 2022-25.

Role of the CDRT

  • maintains a register of child deaths in NSW
  • classifies deaths in the register according to cause, demographic criteria and other factors
  • analyses the register to identify patterns and trends
  • undertakes research to prevent or reduce the likelihood of child deaths
  • makes recommendations to government and community organisations about legislation, policies, practices and services
  • reports to the NSW Parliament on its work and activities.

Working with other jurisdictions

The CDRT is part of the Australian and New Zealand Child Death Review and Prevention Group (ANZCDR&PG), a collaboration of child death review teams from across Australia and New Zealand. Every year, the ANZCDR&PG comes together to share information and insights to better understand and prevent child deaths.

The other ANZCDR&PG members are:

CDRT members

The NSW Ombudsman convenes the CDRT. Staff from the Ombudsman’s office support the CDRT.

The CDRT is required to prepare an annual report. Members must follow the CDRT Charter and Code of Conduct.

Statutory members as April 2022

Paul Miller
Convenor
NSW Ombudsman

Monica Wolf
Community and Disability Services Commissioner

Zoe Robinson
NSW Advocate for Children and Young People

Agency representatives

Ben Spence
Executive District Director, Hunter and Central Coast District
District and Youth Justice Services
Department of Communities and Justice

Dr Matthew O’Meara
Chief Paediatrician
NSW Ministry of Health
Staff Specialist Paediatric Emergency Medicine
Sydney Children’s Hospital

Matthew Karpin
Director, Criminal Law Specialist
Policy and Reform Branch
Department of Communities and Justice

Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty APM
Commander, Homicide Squad
State Crime Command
NSW Police Force

Eloise Sheldrick
Coordinator and Assistant Coroner
Coronial Information and Support Program
Office of the NSW State Coroner

Sarah Bramwell
Director, Practice Learning
Office of the Senior Practitioner
Department of Communities and Justice

Anne Reddie
Director, Child Wellbeing and Mental Health Services
Student Support and Specialist Programs
Department of Education

Independent experts

Professor Ngiare Brown
Director and Program Manager
Ngaoara Child and Adolescent Wellbeing

Professor Kathleen Clapham
Professor Indigenous Health
Australian Health Services Research Institute
University of Wollongong

Dr Susan Adams
Senior Staff Specialist
General Paediatric Surgeon and Head of Vascular Birthmarks Service
Sydney Children’s Hospital

Dr Susan Arbuckle
Paediatric/Perinatal pathologist
The Children's Hospital at Westmead

Dr Isabel Brouwer
Statewide Clinical Director
Department of Forensic Medicine

Dr Luciano Dalla-Pozza
Head of Department (Cancer Centre for Children)
Senior Staff Specialist (Paediatric Oncology)
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

Dr Bronwyn Gould AM
General Practitioner

Professor Philip Hazell
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Sydney Local Health District
Conjoint Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
The University of Sydney School of Medicine

Professor Heather Jeffery (Honorary)
International Maternal and Child Health
University of Sydney/Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Professor Ilan Katz
Professor Social Policy Research Centre
University of NSW

Catherine Lourey
Commissioner
Mental Health Commission of NSW