Our next Trailblazer’s interest in history and learning from it, particularly the history of labour movements and work, has been a common theme that has led her throughout her fascinating career. Marie Boland, Chief Executive Officer at Safe Work Australia, discusses this further in our latest episode on Taking the Path Less Travelled.

Listen to episode twenty-one:

About this episode:

Marie talks about growing up in Ireland and how her dad, who was a great history buff, used to take them around Dublin, telling stories and looking at statues of famous people. He particularly liked stopping at statues of great union leaders, and the stories and figures stuck with her.
After moving to Australia in 1992, Marie worked as a curator in museums. While working at one particularly council-run museum, Marie had the opportunity to be a staff representative during council amalgamations in South Australia, where she was part of the negotiations and enterprise bargaining. And the rest, as they say, is history. Through this experience, Marie ultimately became a union member, reigniting her interest in law and then studying law with the long-term aim of being a labour lawyer and working in industrial relations.

Listen in to hear from Marie as she talks about both personal and professional drivers that keep her going during confronting and tough times at work. She explains how she is focused on harmonising and strengthening tripartism during her tenure as CEO of Safe Work Australia, working with unions, businesses, and the government to reach consensus outcomes. Marie also talks about how she believes your time will come and the importance of backing yourself.

We also discuss Marie’s 2018 national review of model work, health, and safety laws and how this helped to influence the Commonwealth to change the 2011 regulations to include psychological health. Together, we discuss the pivotal role that leaders need to play in keeping up to date with what’s going on in their organisation through risk management and consultation and the importance of the work design piece in potentially eliminating potential hazards at the point of deciding how work is done.

Whether you believe in fate or not, this enthralling episode is a testament to how interests and passions in your life, even from a young age, can help lead you to the path you were meant to be on.

Episode references:

Codes of Practice

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/law-and-regulation/codes-practice

Find out more about this Trailblazer:

Marie Boland

Chief Executive Officer
Safe Work Australia

Marie Boland has been the Chief Executive Officer of Safe Work Australia since 1 November 2023.

Marie is a Member of Safe Work Australia and its subsidiary committees and a Commissioner of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission. She is a member of the Respect@Work Council and the G20 Occupational Safety and Health Expert Network, and an observer on the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities and the Heads of Workers’ Compensation Authorities.

Before joining Safe Work Australia, Marie offered independent work health and safety and workplace relations consultancy services.

Marie’s work health and safety experience spans many roles, including completing the 2023 review of the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner, the 2022 Review of the Conduct of Work Health and Safety Prosecutions in the Australian Capital Territory, an independent review of the South Australian local government sector's One System WHS Management System in December 2020 and the 2018 National Review of the model work health and safety laws (Boland Review). Marie was the 2021 Inaugural Thinker in Residence at the University of South Australia's Psychosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory. Marie has held senior roles at SafeWork South Australia as an Executive Director, Policy and Community Engagement Director and Chief Policy Officer.

Marie holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Master of Arts from University College, Dublin, and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Adelaide.

Tune in next time as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.

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