Board & Executive Advisory
AWS supports boards, CEOs and senior leaders with commercially practical advice where people risk, workplace relations, WHS, psychosocial risk, governance and assurance intersect. We turn complex obligations and incomplete information into a defined decision, accountable actions and an evidence-based pathway—while recognising the different laws that apply across Australian jurisdictions.
When to engage
Engage AWS when a consequential workplace issue is approaching a board or executive forum; accountability for an obligation or control is unclear; reporting does not support confident oversight; risk tolerance and escalation thresholds need definition; or remediation requires coordinated, senior-level governance. The engagement can address a single decision or a defined assurance and follow-through program.
Tell us the decision, timing, jurisdictions, current reporting and relevant advisers. We respond to enquiries within two business days.
Request an initial briefingAdvisory focus
Scope is shaped around the leadership question and the organisation's operating context. Not every engagement requires every stream, and advice is calibrated to the applicable Commonwealth, State or Territory framework.
Frame the workplace, industrial, safety and governance dimensions of a significant decision before the board, CEO or executive acts. This may include senior conduct or performance matters, structural change, workforce disruption, sensitive complaints or an emerging regulatory issue.
Map the relevant duties and operational obligations to controls, accountable executives, reporting lines and evidence. The scope distinguishes Commonwealth, State and Territory requirements and identifies questions that require jurisdiction-specific legal advice.
Test whether reporting gives leaders a reliable view of control design, implementation, exceptions, incidents, overdue actions and evidence quality. Reporting is calibrated to the decision required rather than expanded into an indiscriminate compliance catalogue.
Translate the organisation's stated risk appetite into practical thresholds for escalation, decision authority, notification and oversight across workplace relations, WHS and psychosocial risk.
Establish governance for remediation or organisational change: priorities, dependencies, owners, milestones, evidence requirements and reporting points. AWS can follow progress and test closure where commissioned without assuming management's responsibilities.
Prepare and deliver concise briefings that separate established facts, assumptions, legal questions, operational choices, stakeholder impacts and recommended next steps. Materials can be structured for a board, committee, CEO or accountable executive.
Scoped approach
01
Confirm the engagement trigger, sponsoring body, decision required, jurisdictions, relevant delegations, existing advisers, conflicts and confidentiality arrangements. Scope is agreed before information gathering expands.
02
Review the records and reporting needed for the question, speak with selected control owners or leaders where useful, and identify gaps, disputed facts and external dependencies. The method is proportionate and does not assume every engagement is an audit or investigation.
03
Set out practical options, material risks, controls, accountable owners, escalation points and implementation implications. Legal, technical, clinical or investigative questions are referred to the appropriate specialist where required.
04
Provide a concise paper or briefing suited to the board or executive forum, maintain a reliable record of decisions and actions, and clarify what evidence will demonstrate implementation.
05
Where commissioned, review progress, exceptions and closure evidence against the agreed roadmap. Follow-up supports oversight; it does not transfer directors' or management's duties to AWS.
Practical deliverables
Role boundaries
AWS provides workplace consultancy and independent practical challenge. AWS is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice, promise legal privilege, certify compliance or guarantee an outcome. Independent legal advice should be obtained where the board or executive requires advice on legal rights, duties, exposure or privilege.
A formal workplace investigation, statutory audit or certification engagement requires its own mandate, method and appropriately independent practitioner. Board, officer and management duties remain with their statutory and organisational holders; an AWS engagement does not transfer or discharge them.
Where suitable, Strobe GRC can provide an optional workspace for obligations, controls, actions, evidence and reporting. It is not a prerequisite for this service and does not substitute for advice, judgement or accountable oversight.
Related guidance and services
Connect obligations, controls, owners, exceptions and verified closure for reliable oversight.
Understand how structured evidence and reporting can support executive and board oversight.
Review governance, consultation, controls and evidence against the applicable jurisdiction.
Commission proportionate testing where leaders need clearer evidence of control design and operation.
Coordinate difficult or escalating matters through clear workstreams and decision ownership.
Explore the optional workspace for obligations, risks, controls, actions, evidence and reporting.
AWS can scope the decision, evidence, ownership, assurance and follow-through required.