Melissa Perry

Melissa Perry is the Chief Executive Officer of Communicare and White Ribbon Australia, an acquisition she negotiated on behalf of Communicare in April 2020. Her leadership journey has transformed Communicare into a contemporary, for purpose organisation with a reputation as agile, innovative, and transformative in a complex market environment. She is passionate about designing, implementing, and leading industry change.

White Ribbon Australia is part of a global social movement working to eliminate gendered violence through primary prevention approaches in workplaces, schools and communities and across Australia.

Combined with her leadership of White Ribbon Australia, Melissa has led the growth of Communicare to be one of Australia’s leading providers of services relating to gendered violence, including launching the unique Breathing Space Program, the only residential men’s behaviour change program in the Southern Hemisphere for men who use violence against women. It is an alternative to women and children fleeing or leaving the family home.

Melissa has an impressive professional career spanning 25 years. From 2002 to 2011, Melissa was Executive Director for Centrecare. She consulted as an Executive to the WA Ministerial Council for Suicide Prevention, implementing the Government’s Suicide Prevention Strategy across Western Australia.

Melissa’s desire to influence and drive social change is also evident in her active Board participation. She is currently a board member of the Community Employers WA Peak Body, a Member of the Supporting Communities Forum nominated by the Premier of Western Australia since 2019 and was ministerially appointed to the Board of Landgate in 2019. In 2022, Melissa was appointed the Chairperson of the Landgate People, Culture and Sustainability Committee, recognising her passion and skills in workplace culture.

Melissa has a Bachelor of Social Work from Victoria University and a Master of Business Administration at the Australian Institute of Management.