At HDA, safety is everyone’s business. But as our Workplace Health and Safety Senior Advisor, Michelle thinks about it more than most! Warm, caring and deeply invested in her teammates’ wellbeing, Michelle is responsible for health and safety across our expansive Hanwha Armoured vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE). It’s a challenging role that Michelle has truly made her own.
Pride in the job
When you work in health and safety, success can often be defined by what doesn’t happen. So, when Michelle walked into a HDA meeting in early 2025, she took the time to appreciate a visible outcome of her hard work. The entire HDA team were kitted out in their newly ordered high-vis safety gear, emblazoned with the HDA logo.
“It was so nice to see everyone in their gear! I said to myself, ‘That happened because of me... I’ve coordinated this all. It was a proud, if quietly proud, moment.” Michelle says.
Having joined us during a time of huge growth, Michelle has plenty of reasons to be proud of what she’s achieved at HDA. A big part of this stems from her attitude and approach. Working across complex safety environments, from field conditions to office spaces and the factory floor, Michelle is known for her thoroughness and attention to detail and for getting hands-on to understand tasks.
Whether it’s understanding the musculoskeletal pressures of removing roadwheels from Redback vehicles or closely observing the many intricate tasks our manufacturing teams perform, Michelle ensures she truly understands the health and safety needs of everyone’s role. But it’s about more than preventing injuries. Michelle’s goal is for everyone to go home in even better health than when they arrived.
“We want to facilitate a good culture around mental, personal, and physical wellbeing. While HDA supports hybrid work, we want to ensure our workplace is one where people want to be, because getting to be face-to-face with your team mates encourages stronger relationships, a more personable approach to undertaking tasks and trouble-shooting together, as well as the chance to have a breather and a laugh with some mates. It also supports your overall wellbeing, as does our gym and yoga room facilities and access to our onsite physiotherapist.”
A culture of support
With a background in chemical manufacturing, Michelle had never considered building a career in the defence industry until 2022. That was when a recruiter spotted Michelle’s manufacturing experience on her resumé and flagged the role at HDA as a great fit.
“I decided to throw my hat in the ring and see what came of it,” Michelle says. “And I was really happy once I’d secured the role. It was a unique opportunity. Without the recruiter encouraging me, I don’t think I would have felt I could do this. But I am good at this. I feel like I've found my place in the world - I’ve found my niche.”
Michelle says the culture at HDA has made all the difference in helping her succeed.
“The standard of work I produce at HDA definitely comes down to the connections I’ve made. It’s not just about building a network; it’s about how much support that network has provided me and how much feedback I’ve been given. It really speaks to the culture at HDA that you’ve got people within the organisation who are willing to take time out of their day to encourage you, thank you, support you and build you up.”
Michelle wants others to know that HDA offers space for everyone, whatever your background may be.
“When we go to certain events like Land Forces or Avalon Air Show, we’ll get complimented on how friendly our people are. It’s just a really warm and open culture. People might assume we’re quite militarised and regimented, but it’s quite flexible. You can be yourself here.”
Learning to speak ‘defence’
While there are plenty of challenges at Hanwha to keep things interesting, Michelle says there is always support when you need it. One of the unexpected challenges she initially faced was learning our terminology.
“People talk in acronyms - it is a defence company after all,” she says. “It’s probably second nature for defence personnel, so that has carried over into HDA. When I first started, I found I was literally hearing five to 10 new acronyms in every meeting!”
Yet, Michelle says it was simply a matter of putting her hand up and asking what they meant.
“You get more comfortable with it as you go along,” she says. “You start seeing acronyms consistently, and they just end up sticking in your mind. You absolutely do get used to it!”
Despite the challenges - and maybe because of them, too! - Michelle is excited about what’s ahead.
“My team is focused on a safety management system that’s so close to perfect that our role is really just maintaining it,” she says. “I love that we speak about H-ACE being a centre for excellence. I want us to be the leading organisation in our field for safety. We’ve got great support from our executive leadership team to ensure we procure the highest standard of safety equipment, and we can definitely achieve this.”
