Aaron Maher

Principal
Aaron brings 30 years of experience in consulting and in private sector and not-for-profit management roles.

He has a deep understanding of business strategy, public policy and service delivery, and is an expert facilitator, evaluator and strategist. He has worked extensively in human services, including disability, aged care, mental health, Indigenous affairs, domestic and family violence, housing and employment. Aaron is interested in new approaches to policy, and has worked on commissioning, sector capacity-building and system redesign. He previously held strategic marketing roles and managed a service supporting homeless youth.

Influential work

  • Recommended ways to strengthen the New South Wales (NSW) domestic and family violence (DFV) system as part of the NSW Blueprint for Reform, building on his earlier work at Nous to map and identify gaps in NSW DFV services
  • Supported disability, including through the development of a suite of resources to assist disability service providers build their capability to design or redesign services that better meet the needs of people with disability
  • Identified the benefits of strategic commissioning and models appropriate for a human services context for NSW Family and Community Services
  • Led a review for the Department of Social Services into Australian Government longitudinal data that identified strategies to preserve, strengthen and invest in longitudinal data as an important national resource
  • Assisted two large aged care providers transform their service models to support consumer-directed care, including a new approach to delivering community care services and developing a new service approach for congregate residential aged care.

Outside of Nous

Prior to Nous, Aaron held management roles in private sector organisations including Sega World, Sega Ozisoft, EMI music and Australian Air Freight. He established a small consultancy where he worked to develop programs to address issues including Indigenous youth unemployment, youth homelessness and out-of-home care. He also established and managed Live N Learn, an organisation dedicated to assisting youth at risk achieve independence.

Aaron holds a Master of Public Affairs, and has served on boards including Liverpool Workplace Learning Partnership and Live N Learn.

In his spare time...

Aaron likes to play guitar (badly) and spend time with his family, including his two young boys. They are working hard to master Lego Dimensions.