INTRODUCING
Penny Philpott
“My passion lies in the arts and my ambition is to establish the Northern Beaches as the cultural hub of Sydney.” – Penny Philpott
Sarah is a Manly Ward Councillor first elected in 2017 and is Chief Executive Officer of Lifeline Northern Beaches. The Balgowlah Heights resident is mother of three young women studying at school/ university.
Sarah is a qualified Board Director with extensive experience in governance, finance, strategy and risk management – skills that are vital for ensuring the financial performance, accountability and transparency of Council decisions.
Sarah was appointed unanimously by the Council as its representative on the Council’s important Audit and Risk Committee. This committee has oversight over Council’s Digital Transformation Project, strengthening of cyber security, continuous improvement initiatives and fraud and corruption controls.
She has a proven record of being a strong, independent advocate for the local community on a range of matters that impact Manly and the Northern Beaches such as the Beaches Link Tunnel, local bus timetables, the environment and support for local businesses.
During her time on Council, Sarah has delivered improvements to local infrastructure, including our local tidal pools, playgrounds and public amenities. Sarah works closely with other Manly Councillors for the benefit of Manly Ward, such as their instrumental work in saving Manly’s local Hop Skip Jump bus. Sarah’s longer term focus is on strategy development, building a resilient community, addressing the housing crisis, and ensuring a cyber-safe and sustainable Council.
IT’S TIME TO LISTEN
Sarah Grattan is a Manly Ward councillor elected in 2017 and has the experience of serving for two terms on the Northern Beaches Council. She is the Council’s representative on the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee. Sarah is collaborative, working closely with others for the benefit of the community.
Sarah has lived in the Manly Ward for over 25 years. She loves spending time with her husband and three adult daughters, and her friends and extended family at our local restaurants and taking walks through the many gorgeous places on the Northern Beaches. She especially loves the Spit to Manly Walk taking in the beautiful surrounds of Clontarf, Tania Park, Forty Baskets and North Harbour!
In 2023 Sarah was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Lifeline Northern Beaches. LifelineNB is a local charity and a significant volunteer organisation that is a leader in crisis support and suicide prevention. LifelineNB answers over 51,000 calls to 13 11 14 and provides community programs such as low cost counselling, financial counselling, aged care visitors scheme and training programs like Accidental Counsellor. Funding for the charity comes from the retail network of Lifeline Shops, the quarterly Lifeline Book Fairs and fundraising such as through the Lifeline Surf Classic on Manly Beach in September.
Sarah was previously the Chief Operating Officer of UNICEF Australia, responsible for finance, legal, risk, governance, strategy, IT and operations. Sarah delivered a digital transformation of UNICEF Australia, strengthened governance and risk management and is applying these skills to oversee Council’s ERP project in her role on ARIC.
Sarah Grattan is a great believer in consultation. Whether it is across the boardroom, or crammed into the school hall, Sarah is driven to listen and communicate, problem-solve and find solutions. It’s why she wants to trigger some true community consultation over the housing & affordability crisis on the northern beaches. Sarah is also concerned that calls for rate cuts will undermine the community building initiatives of Council (such as events, cultural and creative initiatives, community development for youth and our elders, the hop skip jump bus).
Sarah is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and prior to that, she graduated from UNSW with a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) with the University Medal and a Bachelor of Laws.
Follow Sarah to discuss the issues that matter in your neighbourhood.
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Cr Sarah GRATTAN
Manly Ward
“As a group of Independents, our loyalty is solely to our community. We work for them.”
– Clr Sarah Grattan
​Immediate areas of focus:
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Protecting our sense of Community and Belonging, including for Young People
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Financial Sustainability and appropriate investment in community assets
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Housing Crisis and Affordability.