Workplace Integrity Advisory — Melbourne, Australia

Safer, fairer
workplaces.
By design.

Integrity-led workplaces. Trusted systems. Effective responses.

I work with senior leaders and organisations to prevent workplace harm, strengthen speak-up culture, and respond to complex workplace issues with clarity, fairness and care. With more than 20 years of experience across workplace integrity, investigations, complaints and workplace cultural reform, I bring the judgement and rigour your organisation needs when it matters most.

20+ Years executive experience
~30% Uplift in reporting confidence
Increase in speak-up behaviour
8,000 Workforce scale of reform led
Core Belief

Prevention is the most effective response — but when workplace concerns arise, how your organisation responds shapes whether people feel safe, heard and valued.

Prevention

Prevention & Culture

Building safe workplaces before harm escalates

Systems

Speak-Up & Systems

Complaint systems people trust and use

Response

Response & Resolution

Fair, proportionate responses to complex issues

Governance

Governance & Integrity

Embedding integrity into leadership and systems

Why workplace integrity
demands expert attention

Organisations today face increasing expectations around psychosocial safety, workplace conduct, regulatory compliance and governance.

When people do not trust workplace systems, they stay silent, disengage, leave or escalate externally. A strong integrity system does more than manage complaints. It helps leaders understand what is really happening, respond appropriately, prevent repeat harm, and build workplaces where people feel safe, respected and heard.

We know that when organisations prioritise their people, their operations thrive.

Yet many organisations continue to struggle, not from lack of intent, but from systems that are reactive, fragmented or not trusted by the people who use them. This is where I can help.

Common challenges I help organisations address:

Low confidence to speak up about workplace harm or misconduct
Responses to complaints that are inconsistent, poorly calibrated, or lack a person-centred and trauma-informed approach
Systems that are reactive, fragmented or not trusted by staff
Leaders unsure how to balance legal risk, people impact and organisational outcomes
Cultural concerns that are visible but difficult to name or address
Compliance obligations met on paper but not in practice

The experience to make
integrity work

I am an executive leader and qualified lawyer with more than 20 years' experience in workplace integrity, complaints, investigations and organisational reform. I work with organisations to strengthen culture, build trust, and embed systems that enable people to speak up and be heard, safely and confidently.

I have led enterprise-wide integrity, complaints and prevention functions in complex, high-risk environments. I have led a multidisciplinary team across complaints and investigations, integrity and governance, workplace harm prevention, and policy, research and data insights, including building a complaints and integrity function from the ground up.

I bring a dual perspective having had experience working as an independent advisor, bringing objectivity, rigour and clarity, as well as leading workplace reform internally, navigating organisational complexity, competing priorities and risk.

"My style is direct, respectful and constructive. I will not simply tell you what you want to hear. I will help you see the issue clearly, and respond well."

Credentials & Experience

Qualified lawyer — admitted to practice in Victoria and in the Federal Courts
Certificate IV Government Investigations | Private Security (Individual) Licence — certified investigator with extensive complex matter experience
Experienced mediator and facilitated workplace resolution practitioner
Experienced in advising CEOs, executives, boards and senior stakeholders
Australian Human Resources Institute professional member
Not-for-profit board member for over 15 years

Executive Rigour

I understand the internal pressure, competing priorities and the risk of getting it wrong that leaders face. My advice is tailored for each organisation's unique context.

Regulatory Literacy

My legal background informs my understanding of the regulatory landscape that shapes workplace obligations at the intersection of culture, conduct and workplace safety. I apply that knowledge to ensure my recommendations are grounded, rigorous and fit for purpose.

Measurable Outcomes

I design solutions that are practical, implementable, and capable of generating measurable change, not reports that sit on a shelf.

Independent Voice

As an independent consultant, I provide frank advice untethered from internal politics. Clients engage me precisely because I will tell them what they need to hear.

End-to-end support across prevention,
systems, response and governance

Every engagement is tailored to your organisation's context, risk profile and desired outcome. I work flexibly, from strategic advisory and independent reviews to embedded support and facilitated programs.

01 Prevention

Prevention & Culture

Building conditions for safe, respectful, high-performing workplaces
  • Workplace cultural reviews and health checks
  • Positive duty to eliminate workplace sexual harassment
  • Psychosocial safety reviews and advisory
  • Evidence-based workplace harm prevention strategies
  • Facilitated conversations and team interventions
  • Tailored culture and conduct training
Best suited forTeams or organisations experiencing cultural concerns, low trust, poor behaviour, psychosocial risk, repeated complaints or leadership uncertainty.
02 Systems

Speak-Up & Complaint Handling Systems

Report and complaint systems that people trust and leaders rely on
  • Report and complaint handling system design
  • Complaint process reviews
  • Anonymous reporting pathway design
  • Trauma-informed complaint handling frameworks
  • Triage and assessment models
  • Data, insights, reporting and continuous improvement frameworks
Best suited forOrganisations with low reporting confidence, inconsistent complaint handling, unclear pathways, poor data, or systems not delivering fair and timely outcomes.
03 Response

Response & Resolution

Effective, fair and defensible responses to workplace issues
  • Independent workplace investigations
  • Preliminary assessments
  • Workplace mediations and facilitated resolution
  • Complex matter advisory
  • Post-investigation support and recommendations
Best suited forMatters involving alleged misconduct including bullying, harassment, discrimination, sexual harassment, integrity concerns, leadership conduct or fractured working relationships.
04 Governance

Governance & Integrity

Strengthening organisational integrity, accountability and risk frameworks
  • Integrity framework design
  • Governance and risk reviews
  • Policy and procedure development
  • Integrity risk registers and reporting frameworks
Best suited forOrganisations wanting to move from reactive issue management to mature, preventative and accountable integrity systems.

What working with
me looks like

Every engagement follows a clear, structured process tailored to your organisation's context and designed to deliver outcomes that are fair, considered and sustainable.

01

Listen & Understand

Every engagement begins with genuine listening. I invest time understanding your organisation's history, culture and the specific challenge you are facing, without judgement.

02

Assess & Diagnose

Depending on the presenting workplace concern, I consider various sources of information including data, interviews and independent analysis, to build a clear understanding of what is actually happening, not just what appears on the surface.

03

Design & Deliver

I develop practical, tailored solutions, reports, frameworks, processes or facilitated sessions, built for your specific context, not a generic template.

04

Support & Sustain

I support implementation and build internal capability so that change endures long after our engagement concludes. Sustainable change is always the goal.

Engagements may include

Practical, person-centred,
evidence-informed

Having led major workplace reform from within complex organisations, I understand the pressures leaders face, competing priorities, risk, and the weight of getting it wrong. That insider knowledge, combined with the objectivity of an independent advisor, is what makes my advice genuinely useful rather than theoretically sound.

I am known for clear, credible advice in high-risk environments, navigating sensitive and contested issues, building trust across executives, boards, regulators and staff, and delivering outcomes that are fair, defensible and sustainable.

I support organisations to respond to workplace issues with clarity, integrity and care, always balancing risk, fairness and organisational outcomes. My practice is grounded in trauma-informed principles because how people experience a process matters as much as the outcome itself.

Regulatory Awareness

My work is shaped by a deep understanding of the regulatory frameworks that govern workplace conduct, including industrial agreements, equal opportunity and positive duty, occupational health and safety, including psychosocial safety.

Data-Driven

I use data and insights to understand what is really happening, identify systemic patterns, and demonstrate the impact of change over time.

Person-Centred

My practice is person-centred and trauma-informed. I take seriously the human experience of workplace harm and design responses that keep people at the centre.

Outcomes-Focused

I design solutions that work in the real world — practical, implementable, and capable of generating measurable change that endures.

Rigorous & Accountable

Whether an investigation, policy recommendation or cultural review, my work is thorough, procedurally fair and clearly reasoned, so organisations can act on my findings with confidence.

Start a confidential
conversation

Whether you are responding to a sensitive issue, reviewing your culture, or looking to build a more trusted workplace system, I welcome an initial conversation.

All enquiries are treated with complete confidentiality and there is no obligation arising from getting in touch.

I work with organisations across Melbourne, Victoria, and nationally.

📍
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
✉️
deborah@integritymattersadvisory.com.au

All enquiries are treated with complete confidentiality. You will hear back within one business day.