Our organisation

Cherie Pittman

Executive Director, Legal Services

BA (Hons), LLB (Hons), Grad Dip InfM

Cherie was appointed to the role of Executive Director, Legal Services in July 2025, having previously working as a Director at Legal Aid NSW since 2021. She has 26 years’ experience working in varied legal roles including as a solicitor practising in native title, the environment, crime policy and as general counsel across government, in the Court system and for statutory authorities.

In recent years, Cherie has moved into specialising in risk management and legal operations whilst retaining a general counsel practice.

Jane Cipants

Executive Director, Client Service and Public Engagement

BSW, M Social Policy, EMPA, GAICD

Jane commenced as Executive Director, Client Service and Public Engagement in 2023. She has many years of experience working in or for the legal assistance sector, including 11 years managing a community legal centre. Her earlier career was in social work in the mental health sector.

Trent Wilson

Executive Director, Digital Transfomation

B Comm, MBA

Trent Wilson is an experienced Digital Transformation leader with an extensive background in delivering strategic ICT programs and digital initiatives across government departments. Trent commenced as Executive Director of Digital Transformation in 2022. He has been responsible for driving agency-wide transformation efforts to enhance digital channels, automation and implementing new core systems to improve service delivery.

Before joining Legal Aid NSW, Trent held executive roles within the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), Family and Community Services (FACS), and NSW Trade and Investment.

Rob Hoyles

Executive Director, Criminal Law

EMPA, LLB (Hons), BA (His, Pol, Phil), Acc Spec (Crim Law), GAICD

Rob was appointed Executive Director in 2023 and Director of Criminal Law in 2021. He is an accredited specialist in criminal law and holds an Executive Master of Public Administration from ANZSOG. He has previously held many roles within Legal Aid NSW including EAGP Project Lead and Solicitor in Charge, Indictable Team. He was the inaugural Solicitor in Charge of Legal Aid NSW’s Port Macquarie office in 2014 and previously worked as criminal defence lawyer in Sydney private practice, with the Aboriginal Legal Service and in four regional Legal Aid NSW offices. He commenced his career as Researcher of NSW Court of Appeal. He is presently appointed to the NSW Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee and Specialist Accreditation Advisory Committee for Criminal Law. In 2008, he represented Australia in the Lawyers Cricket World Cup in Hyderabad, India.

Katie Kelso

Executive Director, Family Law

LLB, Diploma of Legal Practice, BA Comm

Katie was appointed as the Deputy Director of Family Law in 2023 and as the Executive Director in December 2024. She has previously held many roles within Legal Aid NSW including Solicitor in Charge of the Domestic Violence Unit and Solicitor in Charge of Care and Protection. She has worked across a number of both regional and metro offices and been an independent children’s lawyer since 2014. She is presently appointed to the NSW Law Society’s Children’s Issues Committee, the Children’s Court Advisory Committee and the Children’s Law News Committee.

Bianca Dufty

Deputy Director, Family Law

Meredith Osborne

Executive Director, Civil Law

BA (Hons), LLB, GAICD

Meredith commenced as Executive Director, Civil Law in 2023.

Stuart Crawford

Chief Financial Officer

B Comm, LLB, MBA (Executive), CA

Stuart has extensive senior leadership experience in public sector finance across property, housing, planning, environment, and investment portfolios.

Prior to joining NSW government, he worked in private equity, real estate, and infrastructure funds management, where he oversaw finance and operations for both listed and unlisted products and platforms.

As Chief Financial Officer, Stuart provides strategic financial leadership to ensure long-term sustainability, effective management of complex funding arrangements, full legislative compliance, and advocates for a high-performance culture in financial services.

Kimberley Hamer

Director, Aboriginal Services

Dip Gov, BA (Indigenous Studies), LLB

Kimberley is a proud Bidjigal woman from La Perouse in Sydney’s south-east. She has approximately 20 years’ experience working in the public sector in various roles at the National Native Title Tribunal, the Federal Court of Australia, and Aboriginal Affairs NSW. Kimberley joined Legal Aid NSW in 2018 as a solicitor in the Civil Law Division, before joining the Aboriginal Services Branch in 2021. She was appointed to the newly created role of Director Aboriginal Services in June 2022.

Kimberley has dedicated her career to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities to ensure that their perspectives are considered, elevated and incorporated into service delivery, policies, strategies, and advocacy that directly impact on the lives of our First Peoples.

Koshala Nishaharan

Director, Enterprise Project Management Office

BBS, MBA

Koshi commenced in the role of Director, Enterprise Project Management Office in January 2023 after five years of managing the Strategic Plan for Legal Aid NSW. Koshi has experience in Governance and Assurance, Implementation and Reviews in both the public sector and private sector.

Koshi oversees Legal Aid NSW’s five-year strategic plan and is accountable for governance of strategic projects and ensuring they are set up for success with real benefits. Koshi also manages the capital budget of Legal Aid NSW and responsible for the Business Reporting Unit for providing organisational data.