Dr Natalie Pelham

In her own words 

I became involved in transport and safety following the tragic Waterfall rail accident of 2003. I was at WorkCover at the time leading a team of investigators, project officers and specialists when a Ministerial Taskforce was being established to look at reviewing the safety regulatory framework across transport. While I didn’t know that much about transport specifically, I had a deep, practical understanding of workplace health and safety. They wanted someone in the Taskforce to advise on what good regulation looked like in safety and if a regulator was to be set up, what would it need to be able to do in terms of its competency and capacity. I joined the Taskforce and found transport quite fascinating.  It was an important piece of work. I love working in government because you can do amazing things. As part of the Taskforce, we had the opportunity to build something new, and set it up properly with support across government. I feel extremely proud of being part of that process and what we managed to put in place. 

When the new Independent Transport Safety & Reliability Regulator was established, I joined it and from then onwards in my career I have been extensively involved in looking at legislative frameworks and their reform at both state and national levels. 

The increased understanding of risk, and focus on how to manage it, has been the biggest change I have seen since I started in transport. Today there is a much better understanding of safety management systems, rather than relying on individuals following procedures and making the right choice in a particular circumstance, when there could be physical and mental limitations. It started in the 1980s when safety moved from a prescriptive framework to a more risk-based approach, but has gone ahead in recent times in leaps and bounds with the many new technologies coming in.  

In terms of diversity in transport there is real progress in attracting female representation across different levels and a realisation that quotas are needed and mechanisms to help challenge biases, or people will keep hiring people just like themselves.  

Leading with the why 

When driving reform, you must start with a crystal-clear idea of where you want to get to and the why - why is the change important, what will be different, who will benefit, what will make a reform ‘sellable’.  In both government and private sector environments you need good political backing and to understand who your various contributors are. The foundation work involves ensuring these stakeholders truly understand what you are trying to achieve and are willing to contribute.  

Beyond that you need a great plan of attack, including if and when you need to bring the public along. It’s all about excellent project management and explaining the value of the change.  

Stepping forward 

Every time I have taken a risk in my career it has paid off.  

When I started at WorkCover NSW we had a new CEO and she sent out a note saying, ‘if you have any ideas let me know.’ I was early in my career, had some ideas and sent off an email. What I hadn’t appreciated was that it was just me and one other who had bothered to respond to the CEO’s email.  As a result, I ended up being involved in some fascinating projects because the CEO knew I was interested. It made me realise that the best thing I could do was volunteer for different projects and keep learning. Lateral moves are the way to go! It’s all about seizing and making opportunities. 

When an Expression of Interest was issued for people to work on setting up the WestConnex Delivery Authority, I put together a proposal around the project and what I thought I could contribute, even though they were looking for engineers and project managers. I thought ‘you never know’ and put myself out there. I got a call from the acting CEO who said, ‘we have never had a person send us a full proposal before’ and I secured a 12-month secondment. I hadn’t worked on a big infrastructure project before and I got the opportunity to help set up the Authority’s governance including negotiating new arrangements for the project’s gateway review process. It was great, interesting work.