The Safe Work Australia Act 2008 (Cth) establishes Safe Work Australia and sets out how our tripartite Members are appointed.

There are 15 Safe Work Australia Members:

• one independent Chair
• one Member representing the Commonwealth
• 8 Members representing each state and territory
• 2 Members representing the interests of workers
• 2 Members representing the interests of employers, and
• the CEO of Safe Work Australia.

Commonwealth, state and territory Members are nominated by and report to their respective WHS ministers. Members representing the interests of workers and employers are nominated by their corresponding authorised body. All nominated Members are appointed in writing by the Minister for Industrial Relations for a maximum term of 3 years.

The Safe Work Australia Act outlines the authority and voting arrangements of Members. Matters not relating to the model WHS legislation or model Codes of Practice are decided by a two-thirds majority of the votes of the voting Members present and voting. For matters relating to the model WHS legislation or model Codes of Practice, a decision is made by a two-thirds majority of the votes of the voting Members present and voting and a majority of the votes of all the voting Members who represent the Commonwealth, states and territories.

Our Members

Diane Smith-Gander AO – Chair

Diane has played a vocal role in supporting our vision of creating healthy, safe and productive working lives for all Australians. Diane has inspired audiences with her keynote presentations at a number of WHS conferences, including those hosted by the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists and the National Safety Council of Australia in 2017, Comcare in 2018 and the Australian Trucking Association in 2019.

Diane brings a wealth of experience to her position as Chair, with multiple non-executive roles spanning a range of industries. Diane is National Chairman of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia; a director of AGL Energy, Wesfarmers Limited and HBF Health Limited; a board member of the WA government-owned Keystart group of companies and the North Queensland Airports group of companies; and past president of Chief Executive Women.

In June 2018, Diane received the Western Australian of the Year Business Award for her contribution to gender equality and female representation in corporate leadership roles.

Jody Anderson – Commonwealth

Jody Anderson is a First Assistant Secretary at the Attorney-General’s Department within the Industrial Relations Group, and is also the Commonwealth representative of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission.

Jody commenced these roles in 2018. Prior to this role, she held a number of senior executive positions within the portfolio, leading strategic policy and implementation.

Jody has over 20 years of industrial relations experience in the public service, including extensive international policy and representational experience, leading Australia’s engagement with the International Labour Organization for a number of years. She has also worked as an industrial relations practitioner in the Commonwealth and the ACT Public Service.

Jody has a Bachelor of Arts (Administration) (University of Canberra) and a Graduate Diploma in Employment Relations (University of Canberra).

Rose Webb – New South Wales

Immediately before taking up her current position Rose spent 3½ years at the Hong Kong Competition Commission, where she was first Senior Executive Director and then CEO.

Between 2001 and 2008, and again between 2011 and 2014, Rose worked for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission including as NSW Regional Director and Executive General Manager for Mergers and Adjudication.

Rose has also worked in environmental regulation at the Commonwealth level and was at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission from 1991 to 2001.

Colin Radford – Victoria

In a 30-year career working in and with the Victorian public sector, Colin has held many senior roles including most recently as CEO of the Victorian Management Insurance Authority, where he oversaw a major cultural and strategic transformation. He has previously served as an executive at WorkSafe and the Transport Accident Commission and has held senior roles in ministerial offices, advising 3 Victorian premiers and as Chief of Staff to a Cabinet minister.

He spent 7 years as a Partner at Deloitte, where he led the Victorian Government practice and was the National Public Sector Leader for Financial Advisory Services.

A graduate of Columbia Business School (New York) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Colin is also a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration and the Williamson Community Leadership Program. In 2019, Colin was recognised as Australia’s CEO Diversity Champion by the Australian Human Resources Institute.

Craig Allen – Queensland

Craig has held senior management positions for more than 22 years in a government career spanning over 39 years. His previous roles include Commissioner for Public Employment for the Northern Territory Government; Assistant Director-General with the Department of Education, Training and Employment; and Executive Director for Corporate Services with the Department of Corrective Services in the Queensland Government.

Craig has a strong commitment to leading strategy that improves employee engagement, organisational performance and service delivery. In his current role he has a strong commitment to ensuring the work health and safety of all Queensland workers through the implementation of the Best Practice Review recommendations.

Darren Kavanagh – Western Australia

Darren previously served as a member of the WorkSafe Commission for a period of 4 years. He also served on the Building and Construction Industry Training Fund Board during this time.

Martyn Campbell – South Australia

Martyn is a Certified Compliance Professional of the Government Risk and Compliance Institute and a Fellow and Chartered OHS Professional with the Safety Institute of Australia.

Mark Cocker – Tasmania

He has held senior positions in the Tasmanian Department of Justice for the past 30 years in operational management, strategy, planning and regulatory roles.

From March 2020, Tasmania was represented at meetings by Robyn Pearce, Acting Chief Executive of WorkSafe Tasmania.

Stephen Gelding – Northern Territory

Stephen is currently the Director Occupational Licensing and Policy at Licensing NT and retains Safe Work Australia Membership to ensure Northern Territory interests continue to be represented.

During the year, the Northern Territory was represented by Mel Garde as the Acting Executive Director of NT WorkSafe.

Michael Young – ACT

Michael is a personal injury management professional with over 15 years’ experience in senior workers’ compensation and work safety regulatory roles. He plays an important role in delivering effective return to work and injury management services for the ACT Government.

Andrew Dettmer – Australian Council of Trade Unions

Andrew has held a number of board positions, including with QMI Solutions, the Queensland Training and Employment Recognition Council, and Construction Skills Queensland. He was also Chair of Manufacturing Skills Queensland and an Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) nominee to the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency. Andrew is a board member of TAFE Queensland, The Australia Institute, and Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad – the ACTU’s overseas aid arm.

Sophie Ismail – Australian Council of Trade Unions

Sophie has a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the University of Queensland and a Master of Employment and Labour Relations Law from the University of Melbourne. Prior to working at the ACTU, her roles included Principal Lawyer at the Victorian Department of Education, a Senior Associate at Holding Redlich Lawyers and Senior Legal Officer at the Attorney-General’s Department.

Jennifer Low – Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Jennifer represents employers on a number of national committees including the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme Strategic Consultative Committee, the Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance and Safe Work Australia’s Strategic Issues Groups for WHS and workers’ compensation. She has previously served as a member of the WorkSafe WA Commission and Ministerial Advisory Panel Resources Safety WA.

With primary qualifications in psychology and safety, prior to joining the ACCI, Jennifer worked as a people and safety consultant, WHS and workers’ compensation policy adviser, drug and alcohol research academic, and human factors adviser in the oil and gas sector. She is an Associate Member of the Australian Psychological Society.

Tracey Browne – Australian Industry Group

Before joining Ai Group, Tracey held senior positions in the manufacturing sector in human resources, WHS and workers’ compensation. She has a Bachelor of Business (Personnel Management), a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hazard Management, and a Master of Applied Science in Occupational Health and Safety.

In her role with Ai Group Tracey provides advice and training to employers in WHS and workers’ compensation, across all Australian jurisdictions, and brings her broad range of practical knowledge to her representation role at a national and jurisdictional level.

Michelle Baxter was appointed CEO of Safe Work Australia on 1 November 2015 for a 5-year term. She had held the role for the previous 2 years.

Michelle brings more than 20 years of public sector experience to her positions as a Member of Safe Work Australia and its subsidiary committees; as a Commissioner of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission; and as the Commonwealth member on the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Council.

She has worked in many senior roles across the APS including as Group Manager in the former Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR); Group Manager responsible for agency change with the Fair Work Ombudsman; and Group Manager, Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Taskforce with DEEWR.