BirdLife Australia announces new Chief Executive Officer

BirdLife Australia is thrilled to share the below message from our president, Mandy Bamford.

On behalf of the Board of BirdLife Australia, I am very pleased to announce that Ms Kate Millar has been appointed to the position of CEO of BirdLife Australia.

Kate is currently the Executive Director, State Coordination and Operations of Emergency Recovery Victoria.

Kate has expertise in executive leadership, financial management, and stakeholder engagement across the private and public sectors. Throughout her career she has managed large teams of staff as well as large budgets and achieved impressive results. Kate has extensive experience in organisational governance including oversight of Finance and Audit, Risk and Compliance Committees.

At Emergency Recovery Victoria, Kate coordinated State relief and recovery programs, emphasising community engagement practices and sustainable partnerships. Notable achievements include coordinating flood recovery programs and overseeing State recovery governance.

Prior to joining Emergency Recovery Victoria, Kate worked in Executive Director positions at Bushfire Recovery Victoria and Regional Development Victoria. Before that, she worked as a Strategic Adviser at the Victorian Coastal Council after an eighteen-year career with Parks Victoria. Kate began her career with Parks Victoria as a Ranger and worked her way up to senior executive positions including Director of State-wide Services and General Manager of Park Planning.

Kate has a Master of Forest Science and Bachelor of Forest Science with first class Honours.

She is a working parent with three children and she and her family are environmental volunteers in the City of Merri-bek, where Kate’s partner works as a Biodiversity Officer. Kate also gives her time to a local community mentoring program that supports young refugees in the Flemington area. Kate’s favourite holiday destination is Cape Conran Coastal Park in Far East Gippsland with its wealth of birdlife, including the Turquoise Parrots which are a family favourite.

Kate will commence work at BirdLife on Monday 10 July. I am sure we will all welcome her to the position and look forward to working with her in achieving BirdLife’s mission and goals.