Prof. Tony Pietropiccolo

Prof. Tony’s commitment and achievements in the social services sector span close to 50 years.  He is a registered Psychologist and was appointed to his current position as Director of Centrecare in 1989. Tony has been a member of the former Centacare Australia Board, the Catholic Social Welfare Commission, and the WA Catholic Education Commission. He has been WACOSS President, Co-Chair of Community Employers WA, Vice-President of FRSA, a Board member of ACOSS and a member of the National Child Protection Forum, to name a few. Tony is currently a Board member of community housing provider Stellar Living and the Equity Project WA.

In 2016, Tony founded the Valuing Children Initiative (VCI). VCI aims to raise awareness about the value of children and the importance of creating a society where they can flourish. In 2018, he became concerned about the high level of child poverty in Australia and the lack of action to resolve it. Since them, he has written and presented papers on the topic and resolved to work towards establishing a legislated response to child poverty and formed a National Leadership Group to participate in that work. In April 2024, together with the VCI team, led by Sarah Quinton, the ‘End Child Poverty’ Campaign was launched.

Tony's achievements have been recognised with his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia in the General Division (AM) in 2012, as a finalist in the 2023 WA of the Year Awards and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle Campus.