Phil Brown - CatholicCare NT

Phil Brown has returned to CatholicCare NT in 2024 as the General Manager Leadership and Capacity Building.

Beginning as a Prison Officer, Phil progressed through the ranks to Executive Director Custodial Operations and served as Acting Commission on several occasions during his career with NT Correctional Services.

In 2014, Phil undertook a 12-month secondment to CatholicCare NT under the NT Government’s “Broadening our Horizons” development program for senior executives. During this time, Phil worked on the Strong Men’s Program, which included promoting the NO MORE Campaign in remote Aboriginal communities.

In 2015, Phil was then appointed as the Director of the Indigenous Employment and Career Development (IECD) Division within the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment. The IECD Division was responsible for driving the implementation of the NTPS Indigenous Employment and Career Development Strategy 2015-2020. During Phil’s tenure as Director of the IECD Division, Indigenous employment within the NTPs increased from 8.7% to 10%.

Over the years, Phil has also served on a number of committees, forums and working groups including the National Indigenous Justice Forums, Chief Minister’s Regional Coordination Committee and the NT Indigenous Male Advisory Council in 2014 and the NT Community Justice Council in 2015.

Up until late 2015, Phil was one of the most senior Indigenous employee in the public Service. He is a role model, leader and confidante to countless other Indigenous employees and has shown that there are pathways for Indigenous employees to achieve success.

Phil returned to CatholicCare NT in 2017 as General Manager Workforce & Partnerships to help the organisation develop a new workforce development strategy, focusing on Aboriginal employment, and a new Reconciliation Action Plan. This opportunity aligned with his passion of helping staff to develop their careers and make the most of development opportunities.

In 2022 Phil undertook a 2-month secondment position to NAAJA and then continued working with NAAJA as Deputy Chief Executive and as Acting Chief Executive until September 2024.