Nicole Jess
Nicole Jess is now President of the union she joined when she started work as a Prison Officer at the age of 20.
Nicole has a long association with the union, serving as a delegate for more than a quarter century and becoming the first women to chair the Prison Officers Vocational Branch (POVB).
She was Chair of the POVB as Prison Officers dealt admirably with keeping COVID-19 out of the state’s gaols as the pandemic spread.
Nicole has been on the PSA’s Executive for more than 10 years, moving from Vice President to Senior Vice President to the Presidential role over five terms.
A champion of diversity, Nicole has helped establish the union’s first ever LGBTQI Council.
She is currently on the board of Public Skills Australia, providing a range of services to the public safety and government workforces. For the board, she chair the Corrections Committee.
She is passionate about member wellness, mental health, and respect in the workplace. Her future goals for the union include:
- establishing a disability group for É«ÀÇÉçÇømembers and addressing the concerns for members with disabilities in their workplaces.
- wellness and resilience training package for Delegates.
- continuing to advocate for women members to get equal pay, address women homelessness, safety in the workplace and at home, and strive to get superannuation paid when on maternity or paternity leave.
- better raise the matter of psychosocial hazards to government and departmental heads and push for significant programs in workplaces to help with creating safe workplaces, build resilience, and provide positive and professional workplaces.