Last month, our Andrea Madeley was invited to present at the Safe Work Australia Research Summit 2025.
Safe Work Australia is a tripartite decision‑making body representing the interests of the Commonwealth, states and territories, as well as workers and employers. It develops national policy aimed at reducing the incidence of work‑related death, injury and illness, and exposure to hazards and risks in Australian workplaces.
The Safe Work Australia Research Summit brings together experts in work, health and safety and workers’ compensation to consider the most important emerging research trends and gaps to support safe and healthy work.
Safe Work Australia’s research agenda aims to:
- Drive thought leadership by engaging with academics and others to deliver high quality and innovative research;
- Build the evidence base for Safe Work Australia’s workplan through research and evaluation; and
- Enhance national value by supporting the application of evidence into practical outcomes.
Andrea addressed the Safe Work Australia Research Summit in a workshop about the importance of translating evidence into action to improve injured worker outcomes.
By way of background, Andrea became a lawyer later in life after the tragic loss of her son, Daniel, at age eighteen as a result of a fatal workplace injury. She was driven to create change and channels her grief into meaningful advocacy and legal work.
Andrea uses her voice to advocate tirelessly for those with lived experience of traumatic workplace injuries. Her hard work has not gone unnoticed. In 2023, she was appointed by the State Government to the Safe Work South Australia Advisory Committee and in 2024, she was appointed by the Federal Government as the second Co-Chair to the Family and Injured Workers Advisory Committee.
Andrea’s advocacy extends beyond injured workers to the families of those tragically left behind after workplace death. Her speech at the Safe Work Australia Research Summit highlighted the immense financial burden faced by those families and the lack of meaningful compensation to which they are entitled.
We are proud of Andrea’s ongoing activism and her direct impact on the development and reform of work, health and safety and worker’s compensation laws in South Australia and Australia more broadly.