Ros Escott

Awarded for service to volunteering and health

Born: 3 September 1949

Entered on roll: 2023

"Steps forward to make it happen"

Ros Escott has made outstanding contributions to breastfeeding education, convict women’s history and family history research.

Ros has been a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor and educator with the Australian Breastfeeding Association since 1987 and was made an Honorary Member in 2007 for her contribution nationally and internationally, including serving on the national board and national training team. She has been an active member of advocacy group Breastfeeding Coalition Tasmania since its inception in 1996 and has convened the group since 2011.

Since 1995, Ros has volunteered with the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Health Initiative. Ros was one of a two-person taskforce that rewrote the Australian Baby Friendly Health Initiative Standards to assess breastfeeding practices in maternity and community facilities. In this role, she has assessed numerous Australian maternity facilities, and trained assessors in New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Ros worked for the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners for 17 years. She managed exam and business  operations in Australia, Asia Pacific, and Southern Africa, and helped establish the lactation consultant profession in Japan and Korea. When the Executive Director retired, Ros went to America for a year to run the international organisation. Ros has been a speaker at numerous national and international breastfeeding conferences.

Ros served on the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site Community Advisory Committee from 2013 to 2021. She started volunteering with the Female Convicts Research Centre (FCRC) in 2014 later taking on secretary, treasurer, and public officer roles for FCRC and its sister organisation, Convict Women’s Press. She has also been treasurer of From the Shadows since its inception in 2018.

In 2015, Ros established and became convenor of the Tasmanian Family History Society’s DNA Interest Group.

By mastering the intricacies of analysing DNA for family history research, Ros has helped dozens of individuals identify previously unknown parents and family members. This has been described by recipients as ‘life changing’. Ros has also helped one of these Tasmanian women write a book about her life.