Sarah Blackman

Sarah commenced her career in the intricate world of frontline labour relations within the vehicle manufacturing industry, where she honed her foundational skills. Over the years, she has ascended to prominent leadership roles, guiding teams of lawyers and workplace relations professionals at two of Australia's leading companies, Australia Post and Coles Group. Her extensive experience in these roles has refined her ability to adeptly manage complex workplace and personnel issues, including workforce reorganisation and transformation initiatives. Sarah is well-versed in offering strategic guidance on the nuances of business transfers, handling workplace disputes and investigations, and managing employment-related litigation across courts and tribunals. Notably, she has showcased her expertise in managing the diverse and challenging employment issues that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a keen passion for problem solving, Sarah diligently applies a commercial perspective to the challenges she faces, ensuring she identifies pragmatic and cost-effective solutions to workforce-related matters. She has been recognised by her peers and industry leaders, being named one of Doyle’s Guide Leading In-House Employment & WHS Lawyers in 2020, and her standing as a top Australian in-house lawyer was further solidified with her nomination in the 2023 Legal 500’s GC Powerlist. Before co-founding Decipher Workplace Law, Sarah demonstrated her leadership and expertise as Managing Counsel, People & Culture at Coles Group. In this role, she provided guidance on employment matters and litigation to a workforce of 130,000. Her exceptional contributions were acknowledged when she received the Chief People Officer’s Award in 2022, the highest accolade within Coles Group's People and Culture function.