Q: At WorkSafe, you’re all about keeping people safe at work. How does that link to your organisation’s diversity and inclusion approach?
Ella: “Our core purpose as Victoria’s workplace health and safety regulator is to reduce workplace harm and improve outcomes for injured workers. That commitment naturally extends to psychological safety, belonging, and equitable experiences, a workplace cannot be truly safe if it is not also inclusive.
“This means our safety mission and our DEI approach are deeply interconnected. When people feel respected, represented, and psychologically safe, they are more likely to speak up about hazards, challenge unsafe behaviours, and contribute to a culture where harm is prevented. Inclusive workplaces are safer workplaces, and that is central to how we deliver on our mandate for all Victorians.”
Q: What are the diversity and inclusion commitments and how were they chosen?
Ella: “We are currently developing a refreshed strategic DEI framework which will build on the foundations of our DEI strategies and action plans that have been in place since 2020. This new framework – alongside the investment to growing our DEI Team – will unify and strengthen our existing commitments, while ensuring we remain contemporary, evidence based, and aligned to the needs of our people and the Victorian community.
“Our DEI framework will continue to support and integrate with our existing action plans, including:
- Gender Equality Action Plan 2026 – 2030
- Accessibility & Inclusion Plan 2025 – 2028
- Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response Plan 2024 – 2026
“These plans also sit alongside our Reconciliation Action Plan with work on our Innovate RAP now underway managed by our First Nations team. These commitments were chosen through consultation, legislative requirements, workforce insights, and alignment to our organisational values. They reflect where we can have the greatest impact and where our people have told us change matters most.”
“A workplace cannot be truly safe if it is not also inclusive.”
Q: What type of governance structure do you have (D&I council, working groups?)
Ella: “A key focus for WorkSafe right now is growing our DEI maturity and strengthening our DEI governance so that our commitments translate into consistent, organisational wide impact.
“Our previous Diversity Equity & Inclusion Council has grown into an Executive Diversity Equity & Inclusion Council to ensure clearer senior level ownership, stronger accountability and more strategic alignment. This group is made up of our three Executive Sponsors of our Employee Led Networks (ELNs) and the Executive Director, People & Culture and provides visible sponsorship and sets the direction for DEI across WorkSafe.
“Our Employee Led Networks (ELNs) bring lived experience insight to create safe communities that boost belonging and retention, and build capability through storytelling, education and events. Their grassroots influence embeds DEI principles across WorkSafe. These networks have advanced over the past decade with WorkPride (2016), Women@WorkSafe (2017) and the Accessibility & Inclusion Network (2023) now engaging membership with over 43% of our workforce, making them one of our most powerful levers for cultural change and strategic DEI impact.
“Our cross functional DEI Intersectional Working Group is the operational engine of our DEI maturity. It owns and drives delivery of our DEI plans, monitors progress and reports outcomes and ensures our commitments are implemented consistently and transparently across WorkSafe.
“Finally, our Diversity Equity & Inclusion Team plays a distinct and critical role in lifting DEI maturity. Our team provides specialist expertise, builds organisational capability, leads strategic planning, and ensures alignment and consistency across these governance structures.”
Q: You conduct gender impact assessments of public-facing policies and services in line with Victorian law. Can you share the value you see of undertaking these assessments?
Ella: “Gender Impact Assessments help us design fairer, more accessible and more effective services for the Victorian community. They highlight unintended impacts early, strengthen evidence based decision making and ensure our policies and programs work equitably for all genders.
“Gender Impact Assessments help us design fairer, more accessible and more effective services for the Victorian community.”
“While GIAs are a legislative requirement, they are also an emerging practice across the public sector. We’re taking a strategic approach to embed and integrate GIAs into our existing processes, applying them to new or under review policies, programs and services that have a direct and significant impact on the public. This ensures GIAs are not a compliance exercise, but an intersectional tool that supports more inclusive programs, policies and services for other under-represented and marginalised groups.”
