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20 Reward and Benefits Leaders Shaping Western Australia

  • Writer: Jonno White
    Jonno White
  • 5 days ago
  • 10 min read

Last updated: June 2026

Western Australia's workforce story is unlike any other in Australia. The state's economy runs on minerals, energy and logistics at a scale that shapes pay structures across entire industries. FIFO rosters, remote site allowances, retention bonuses for hard-to-fill underground roles, and long-term incentive schemes tied to commodity cycles are not abstract HR concepts here. They are the lived reality of the people who design, govern and communicate total reward frameworks every day.

I have spent years working with leaders across Australia, and the WA HR community has always struck me as particularly close-knit and genuinely collaborative. When I set out to find the reward and benefits leaders making the most meaningful contribution in this state, I quickly discovered something that should come as no surprise: these are people doing exceptionally complex work in a sector where getting pay right is not just a retention issue. It is a safety, productivity and workforce trust issue.


A collection of Western Australian HR and people leaders who shape reward and benefits strategy across the state's mining, energy, healthcare and education sectors.

This list covers people officers, HR directors, people managers and specialists working across mining, energy, utilities, healthcare, education and professional services in Western Australia. Not all of them carry "reward" in their title. In organisations of this size and sector, reward strategy sits at the executive HR table, and every person here owns it in some form.

If you want to explore the broader picture of HR leadership across Australia and New Zealand's resources and energy sector, I have also written about 35 influential HR leaders shaping resources and energy across ANZ. And if you are curious about the wider WA leadership community beyond HR, you might enjoy my list of 50 influential leaders in Perth.

Here are twenty reward and benefits leaders in Western Australia worth knowing.


1. Ruth Lyall

Ruth Lyall is Senior Vice President Human Resources at Woodside Energy, one of Australia's largest oil and gas companies and an ASX Top 20 business headquartered in Perth. She leads the people function for a global workforce that spans Australian operations, overseas offices and joint ventures, and her remit includes executive remuneration, total reward frameworks, and workforce planning across a highly complex energy transition environment. Woodside's reward architecture has had to evolve significantly as the company navigates carbon commitments, LNG market volatility and the workforce implications of major acquisitions. Ruth brings the kind of long-tenure strategic depth that makes that evolution possible.


2. Jenny Bryant

Jenny Bryant is Chief Human Resources Officer at Wesfarmers, the Perth-headquartered conglomerate whose businesses span retail, chemicals, fertilisers, industrials and health. She has held the role since 2016, making her one of the longest-serving CHROs among ASX-listed companies in Western Australia. Managing reward across a group with more than 100,000 employees and business units as different as Bunnings, Kmart, Priceline and Wesfarmers Chemicals requires both firmness of principle and genuine flexibility of application. Jenny's longevity in the role reflects a track record of aligning executive pay structures and enterprise-wide reward frameworks with the commercial realities of each business unit.


3. Katie Tovich

Katie Tovich is Chief Human Resources and Commercial Officer at South32, a global diversified metals and mining company with its headquarters in Perth. The dual title is telling: reward and workforce strategy at South32 sit alongside commercial decision-making in a way that gives the people function direct influence over the company's operational priorities. Katie has been navigating the reward complexities of a multinational resources company with operations across Australia, South Africa, Colombia, Brazil and beyond, where currency, regulation and local labour markets all affect what competitive pay actually means.


4. Carla Bonev

Carla Bonev is Chief People Officer at St John of God Health Care, one of Australia's largest private hospital and health service organisations, with its national headquarters in Perth. She brings more than 15 years of global HR leadership, including prior roles as Vice President Human Resources at South32 and senior positions within BHP Group. That resources sector background gives her a sharp understanding of complex reward structures, executive remuneration governance and the workforce dynamics that shape retention and engagement at scale. At SJOG, she applies those capabilities to the healthcare workforce, which faces its own acute supply, attraction and retention pressures.


5. Amy Stanley

Amy Stanley is Chief People Officer at HBF Health, Western Australia's leading not-for-profit health insurer and one of Perth's largest employers. She has been part of the HBF executive team since April 2020 and has held strategic HR roles across energy, resources, banking and FMCG prior to her current appointment. In her current remit, Amy leads culture, leadership development and organisational strategy, and holds joint accountability with HBF's Chief Technology Officer on the organisation's AI strategy. Her positioning at the intersection of people and technology makes her one of the more forward-looking voices in WA's HR community. She has spoken about her work publicly in podcasts and industry forums, and is active in sharing her thinking on LinkedIn.


6. Tess Lackovic

Tess Lackovic is Executive General Manager People and Culture at Hancock Iron Ore, the entity that brings together Roy Hill and Atlas Iron under the Hancock Prospecting group. She joined Roy Hill in October 2023 and holds responsibility for the organisation's people and culture strategic plan, including its reward frameworks for a workforce that operates across remote Pilbara sites and Perth corporate offices. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) and a Master of Commerce from Curtin University, and her prior experience includes senior HR leadership roles at Australian Strategic Materials, Kentz SNC Lavalin and BHP Iron Ore. She was a visible presence at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy conference in 2024.


7. Andrea Chapman

Andrea Chapman is Director People, Health and Safety at Mineral Resources (MinRes), the ASX-listed mining and mining services company headquartered in Perth. With more than two decades of experience across mining, energy and manufacturing, she has held senior HR leadership roles at MinRes and previously at Fortescue Metals Group, where she developed deep expertise in large-scale workforce programs, culture and capability building. At MinRes, she oversees the people function for a business that has grown rapidly across lithium, iron ore, energy and mining services and has had to scale its HR infrastructure to match.


8. Bethanie Ibrahim

Bethanie Ibrahim is Executive General Manager People, Logistics and Facilities at Mineral Resources. Her portfolio is one of the most operationally integrated people roles in WA mining: covering the people function alongside logistics and facilities gives her a direct line to the operational realities that shape attraction, retention and reward for a diverse workforce. Under her leadership, the Osborne Park head office achieved WELL V2 Platinum Certification, reflecting a commitment to workplace wellbeing that extends beyond pay to the physical and psychological environment in which MinRes people work.


9. Melisa Kaharevic

Melisa Kaharevic is Chief People Officer at Curtin University in Perth, a position she has held since early 2024. She brings broad experience across the public sector, human services, health and higher education, having previously served as a P&C Executive at Flinders University and held Director of Workforce Services and Director of People and Culture roles at SA Health. She is also a former practising lawyer, which gives her a distinctive lens on employment law, industrial relations and the compliance dimensions of reward and classification structures. Her appointment marks a significant step in Curtin's people strategy maturation.


10. Jo Christie

Jo Christie is Executive Manager People at Western Power, the state-owned electricity network operator serving approximately one million customers across Western Australia. She joined in July 2023 with responsibility for Human Resources, Safety, Property and Fleet, and Training functions. Her career spans more than 20 years in the HR sector across aged care, fast-moving consumer goods and hospitality, giving her a breadth of sector experience that she applies to the complexities of a regulated energy utility workforce. She appeared as a speaker at the Women in Energy Perth event in February 2024, discussing workforce challenges in the energy transition.


11. Nadine Dennison

Nadine Dennison is Executive General Manager People, Safety and Environment at Synergy, the Western Australian state-owned electricity generation and retail corporation. She joined in 2024 with a background spanning mining, infrastructure and education sectors. She holds a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from Edinburgh Napier University, is a Fellow Certified Practitioner HR with the Australian HR Institute and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Her focus on people, safety and environment as an integrated portfolio reflects how seriously WA's energy sector takes the connection between workforce wellbeing and operational performance.

Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nadine-dennison


12. Suzy Retallack

Suzy Retallack was announced as Chief People and Sustainability Officer at IGO Limited, the Perth-headquartered battery metals and gold explorer, effective 15 September 2025. She brings more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry in senior health, safety, environment, security and culture leadership roles. Prior to her IGO appointment, she was Chief Safety and Sustainability Officer at Newmont Corporation, where she also led corporate affairs for Newmont's Australian operations. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Western Australia and an MBA from Curtin University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy.


13. Bronwyn Baker

Bronwyn Baker joined Newmont Corporation as Head of People, Newmont Australia in July 2024. She brings extensive experience in strategic human resources leadership and business transformation, with prior roles including Vice President People and Culture (interim) at Austal, Chief Corporate Services Officer and Chief People Officer at DRA Global, and multiple senior leadership positions at Rio Tinto spanning strategy, integration and business services. She was educated at the University of Western Australia (Bachelor of Economics and Master of Industrial Relations) and Curtin University (Graduate Certificate of Futures and Sustainability), and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Connect on LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/bronwynbaker


14. Liz Hodgson

Liz Hodgson is HR Director at Alcoa of Australia, the Kwinana-based subsidiary of global aluminium producer Alcoa Corporation. The WA aluminium and bauxite sector operates a large and geographically distributed workforce across mining operations, refineries and port facilities, and Liz leads the people function that designs and governs reward and HR strategy across these operations. Alcoa of Australia has been relocating its head office to Perth CBD in 2025, and Liz's work in this period involves navigating both operational continuity and the workforce implications of that organisational change.


15. Nadia Butler

Nadia Butler is Head of Human Resources at Hancock Iron Ore, the entity that encompasses Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations, and is based in Perth. She brings prior experience at Fortescue Future Industries and Swan Contract Personnel, and holds a degree in Honours Industrial Psychology from Rhodes University. Her role sits within the extended leadership team at Hancock Iron Ore, supporting the broader people and culture function led by Tess Lackovic. Having multiple HR leaders of this calibre within a single iron ore business reflects the scale of workforce complexity that comes with operating one of the Pilbara's major integrated mine-rail-port systems.


16. Gabrielle Cribb

Gabrielle Cribb is a Human Resources Manager at Fortescue, the Perth-headquartered iron ore and green energy company founded by Andrew Forrest. Her WA mining career path is notable for its depth across multiple major employers: she was previously HR Coordinator at Mineral Resources, where she supported employee relations and talent acquisition, and before that HR Administrator at Roy Hill. Her background across three of WA's significant mining operations gives her a broad perspective on reward, culture and the day-to-day HR infrastructure that supports large workforces in challenging environments.


17. Catherine Murdoch

Catherine Murdoch holds the role of General Manager People Experience at RAC WA, the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia and one of the state's largest member service organisations. RAC operates across roadside assistance, insurance, travel, education and community services, and its people function manages a diverse workforce with a genuine service ethos. People experience roles at this level typically carry responsibility for total reward strategy, recognition programs, and the employee lifecycle from attraction through to exit, making Catherine's work central to how RAC attracts and retains the skilled people its members depend on.


18. Chloe Hall

Chloe Hall is HR Manager at Northern Star Mining Services, based in Kalgoorlie and part of Northern Star Resources, one of the world's top ten gold producers. She has progressed through the organisation from HR Officer through Senior HR Advisor and HR Superintendent to her current role, building deep expertise in the mining context that shapes reward in the Goldfields region. Her career arc within the same organisation speaks to both her capability and the kind of institutional knowledge that makes a real difference when designing reward frameworks that actually fit the workforce they are meant to serve. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Curtin University.


19. Natalia Smith

Natalia Smith is Head of Human Resources at Western Power in Perth. She works alongside Executive Manager People Jo Christie in one of the most structurally complex HR environments in WA: a regulated state-owned network operator with a workforce that spans technical trades, engineers, customer-facing staff and corporate functions across a service area of 261,000 square kilometres. Having strong HR leadership at multiple levels within a business of this complexity is essential, and Natalia's role in that function contributes directly to Western Power's ability to attract and retain the skilled workforce the energy transition demands.


20. Peter Naim

Peter Naim is Executive General Manager (Acting) People, Safety and Environment at Synergy, and has served as Head of People and Capability at the corporation since December 2021. He brings more than 25 years of senior management experience in human resources and industrial relations across mining, energy and construction. He holds a Master of Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Science, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His depth in industrial relations is particularly valuable in a regulated energy business navigating enterprise bargaining and workforce transformation simultaneously.


The Reward and Benefits Space in WA Is Smaller Than It Should Be

One thing that struck me in pulling this list together is how thin the publicly visible pool of named WA reward professionals is, particularly at the specialist level. There are people doing exceptional work in compensation benchmarking, benefits design and total reward architecture inside these organisations, but they are rarely visible outside their employer's walls.

The leaders in this list are the ones making enough noise, doing enough interesting work, or holding senior enough positions that they show up when you look. But for every person featured here, there are likely three or four reward specialists in Perth who deserve to be known and whose work is quietly keeping some of Western Australia's most complex workforces fairly paid and genuinely engaged.

If you know someone who should be on a list like this, or if you work in reward and benefits in WA and want to connect, I would love to hear from you at jonno@consultclarity.org. I also write regularly about leadership, culture and people strategy at consultclarity.org.


This list was compiled in June 2026 based on publicly available information including company leadership pages, LinkedIn profiles, industry publications and professional announcements. Role titles and organisations reflect publicly stated positions at time of research. Jonno White is a leadership consultant, keynote speaker and Working Genius facilitator based in Brisbane. He works with teams across Australia and beyond on leadership, culture and organisational effectiveness.

 
 
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