Our current NSW Ombudsman is Paul Miller. The Chief Deputy Ombudsman and Chief Operating Officer report directly to the Ombudsman.
Our Deputy Ombudsmans and Directors lead the Office's business, corporate and enabling services branches.
Our Executive
Paul Miller PSM (he/him)
Ombudsman
BEcon, LLB (Hons), LLM, MBA, MA (Phil), Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW
Paul was appointed Ombudsman in May 2021 having acted in the role since August 2020. Paul joined the Ombudsman’s Office in April 2019 as Deputy Ombudsman- , Reviews, Investigations and Community Services, and Community and Disability Services Commissioner. Paul has previously served as a Deputy Secretary with the NSW Department of Justice and the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Monica Wolf (she/her)
Chief Deputy Ombudsman and Commissioner for Community Services
BA, GradDipEdSt, GradCertPublicPolicy, GradCertPSM
Monica was appointed Chief Deputy Ombudsman in August 2021. Prior to this, Monica held a number of executive roles in the organisation including Deputy Ombudsman- Projects and Systemic Reviews. In these roles her responsibilities included leading teams responsible for reviews of the deaths of children, policy and systemic projects, and complaints and investigations. Monica worked for a 2 year period with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, leading teams in both investigations and policy.
Chris Clayton (he/him)
Chief Operating Officer
BComm, GradDipCA, GradCertIA, CA
Chris was appointed Chief Operating Officer in August 2021. Prior to this, Chris had an extensive career at the Audit Office of NSW where he held a range of executive positions. Most recently, this included supporting the Auditor-General in oversighting audit quality, provision of audit-related technical support, innovation of audit practices and corporate governance functions.
Louise Lazzarino (she/her)
Deputy Ombudsman, Systems Oversight
BA, LLB, LLM, GradDipLP, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW
Louise commenced as an Assistant Ombudsman in July 2022 and was later appointed to the position of Deputy Ombudsman. Louise leads the Systems Oversight branch which is responsible for the statutory functions relating to the oversight of the public interest disclosures scheme and the mandatory disease testing scheme. Most recently, she was the Director of Enforcement and Prosecutions at the State Insurance Regulatory Authority. She previously held the position of Manager, Oversight Investigations at the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission and was an Assistant Director with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority in a variety of investigations and complaint-handling areas.
Sanya Silver (she/her)
Deputy Ombudsman, Investigations and Major Projects
BA (Hons), DipGov (Investigations), GradCertBus
Sanya was first appointed Acting Deputy Ombudsman in October 2021 and was later appointed to the position of Deputy Ombudsman- , Investigations and Major Projects in January 2023 to lead the newly established Investigations and Major Projects Branch.
Prior to this, Sanya had been in several senior complaint-handling and investigation management roles within the Office. Most recently she was Investigation Manager of the Investigation Team established to lead complex and systemic investigations across the Ombudsman’s public sector and community services jurisdictions.
Leanne Townsend (she/her)
Deputy Ombudsman, Aboriginal Programs
BA (Soc), MA
Leanne was appointed Deputy Ombudsman- , Aboriginal Programs in March 2022. Leanne is a proud Aniwan woman from Uralla in northwestern NSW. Leanne previously held the position of Chief Executive Officer of the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy and prior to that was CEO of the NSW Reconciliation Council. Leanne’s experience also includes Indigenous Advisor to Her Excellency Quentin Bryce and Senior Public Affairs Officer and Executive Officer with the federal Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Helen Wodak (she/her)
Deputy Ombudsman, Monitoring and Review
BA, LLB, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW
Helen was appointed Deputy Ombudsman, Monitoring and Review in March 2022.
Helen has been working with the Office since 2013 when she joined as Principal Investigator in the former Community Services Division. Helen headed the Public Interest Disclosures team before being appointed as Acting Deputy Ombudsman, Projects and Systemic Reviews Branch in August 2021. Prior to joining the Office, Helen worked with the NSW Department of Attorney General and Justice and with the Aboriginal Justice Agency in Darwin.
Megan Smith
Legal Counsel
Bachelor of Science (Psychology) (Hons), Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW
Megan has been the Ombudsman’s Legal Counsel since February 2016. Before this, she was a solicitor at a large commercial law firm. Megan has also co-authored a textbook on equity. Megan is the principal legal adviser to the Ombudsman. She manages the provision of legal services to the office and litigation involving the Ombudsman. She also oversees the internal governance and risk unit and policy development and governance.
Josh Faulkner (he/him)
Director, Corporate Services
GradCertHRM
Josh joined the Ombudsman’s Office in August 2023 to lead the Corporate Services branch.
He has an extensive career within the NSW Government spanning more than 14 years and has led teams in corporate communications, human resources and organisational development. Most recently he worked as a senior executive at the NSW Department of Customer Service where he headed the Employee Experience team.
