Work Health and Safety Governance Specialist

Work Health and Safety Governance Specialist

For over 150 years, our schools, colleges, early learning centres and out of school care programs, have been an integral part of education in Western Australia. Together we form the state’s second-largest education provider, with more than 83,000 students relying on our nearly 14,000 dedicated staff each day. We are committed to fostering an environment where every child can achieve their full potential, and our office teams support schools to do exactly that.

The Role

The role of Work Health and Safety Governance Specialist belongs to the Work Health and Safety team in the People and Culture directorate. We have 5 office campuses across the state and this role will be based at our West Leederville office.

This is a full-time maximum term one year position commencing as soon as possible.

The WHS Governance Specialist provides expert oversight, assurance and advice to ensure CEWA’s prioritises a culture of safety across all Catholic schools and officers.  The WHS Governance Specialist focuses on governance, assurance, and system effectiveness rather than operational safety management.

Primary accountabilities include:

• Maintain and review the WHS governance practices to align with legislative requirements and sector expectations.
• Clearly delineate WHS roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities across CECWA (CEWA’s board of directors), executive, leadership, and school levels.
• Develop and maintain board-level WHS reporting to support informed decision-making and officer due diligence.
• Provide analysis of WHS performance, trends, and critical risk exposures.
• Support CECWA and Executive with with clear, timely, and accurate WHS assurance.
• Translate legislative WHS duties into practical governance requirements for officers and senior leaders.
• Oversee governance arrangements for WHS risk management, including critical risk identification and control effectiveness.
• Ensure incident classification, escalation, and notification processes meet legislative and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate WHS assurance activities, including internal reviews, audits and independent assessments.
• Monitor the implementation of corrective actions and report on control effectiveness.

Benefits of the role

• A competitive salary: Level K-L on the CEWA salary scale [$145,415–$192,025 per annum] plus superannuation. Salary level is dependent on experience.
• Five days additional paid leave during office closures over Christmas and Easter.
• Salary packaging options in line with our not-for-profit status, including novated leasing.
• Deferred salary program for eligible employees after two years of service.
• Free onsite parking.
• Corporate health insurance discounts.
• Access to the Fitness Passport program.
• Employee Assistance Program: access confidential counselling and wellbeing support for yourself and your family.
• Ongoing professional learning opportunities, including a CEWA scholarship program to support further education.
• Flexible work arrangements, where operationally appropriate.
• Wellbeing initiatives including annual flu vaccinations and workplace health checks.
• Parental leave provisions above statutory minimums.

Selection Criteria

A.        ESSENTIAL:

1. Prepared to support the Catholic ethos in the performance of their duties.
2. Demonstrated experience in designing, maintaining, and reviewing Work Health and Safety governance practices.
3. Proven capability in embedding WHS processes within enterprise governance, risk, and compliance frameworks.
4. Experience in developing and maintaining board-level WHS reporting, providing analysis, trends and critical risk exposure insights to support informed decision-making.
5. Strong knowledge of WHS risk management governance, including critical risk identification, incident classification, escalation and notification processes.
6. Experience coordinating WHS assurance activities including monitoring corrective actions, and identifying systemic improvement opportunities across schools and services.
7. Ability to foster a positive safety culture throughout complex organisations.
8. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to provide clear, timely, and accurate WHS assurance and specialist advice to Boards, executives, and committees.
9. A tertiary qualification in a relevant field.

B.        HIGHLY DESIRABLE:

1.         Experience in the education sector.

1.         A current National Police History Check as issued by the Department of Education Western Australia.

2.         Fixed term appointment up to 12 months.

Information for Applicants

To access a copy of the Position Description please click here: Position Description 

Interested applicants should submit:

• A cover letter briefly addressing the selection criteria.
• A curriculum vitae outlining their employment history, qualifications and certifications and include a minimum of two professional references.

The successful applicant will need to provide:

• National criminal history check as issued by the Department of Education WA.
• 100 points of identification

Applications for this role close no later than 5pm, Sunday 12 April 2026. We reserve the right to close the advertisement early if a suitable candidate is identified. If you're interested in this role, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to ensure consideration.

If you require support with submitting your application, please contact our Talent Advisors at careers@cewa.edu.au. Applications can be submitted by clicking apply and uploading your application to our website. Applications will not be accepted via email.

All employees of Catholic Education Western Australia are required to support the Catholic ethos in the performance of their duties. Catholic Education Western Australia also encourages applications from people of all cultural backgrounds, First Nations people, and individuals with disabilities or medical conditions who meet the requirements of the position. To be eligible to apply, you must be legally permitted to work in Australia