Penny Mackieson is an Australian social worker and author who has worked primarily in the child and family services sector. She has Bachelor and Master degrees in Social Work from the University of Melbourne, where she is currently completing PhD studies on permanency from out-of-home care, focused on Permanent Care Orders in Victoria. Penny, who was adopted as a newborn, is the Chair of VANISH Inc., a community-based organisation providing search and support services since 1989 to people separated from their families through adoption, childhood institutional care or donor conception. Penny lives with her husband and adult son in inner Melbourne.