Ms Siân Owen
Ms Siân Owen grew up in Hull, United Kingdom before she emigrated to Australia in December 1975 when her father, Wyn Owen, was appointed Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. In 1977 Ms Owen enrolled in Arts/Law at Monash and in 1981 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History. She returned to the United Kingdom with her partner Emeritus Professor Rob Moore, and worked with the Lothian Community Relations Council in Edinburgh and then at the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux in London as a Research and Development Officer. In 1986, Ms Owen completed a Master of Science in Social Policy and Planning at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
On returning to Australia in 1988, she was employed as an Industrial Officer at the Victorian Public Service Association (VPSA) and was also elected as the President of the VPSA Staff Association. In 1989 she was appointed Federal Industrial Officer with the State Public Services Federation (SPSF - which later became the Community and Public Sector Union) to develop, co-ordinate and represent the SPSF’s higher education membership across Australia. At that time, universities were still regulated by dozens of state awards and hundreds of different professional staff classifications and pay points. Ms Owen worked with the ACTU to initiate the first federal award for higher education professional staff bringing all professional staff under a single federal award for the first time. She also contributed to the initiative of a single higher education professional staff classification structure which remains in place today. Ms Owen represented the SPSF in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in several significant cases.
In 1997 Ms Owen, with two colleagues, established WorkSight, an industrial relations consultancy business. In 2010 she left to set up her own consultancy, SO IR Pty Ltd. As a consultant, Ms Owen has advised universities, colleges, group training companies, primary industry suppliers, construction contractors, along with local councils and Indigenous organisations. She specialised in providing practical advice on enterprise agreements, award entitlements and managing difficult staffing situations. Over her 9 years as a union official and 27 years as an industrial relations consultant, Ms Owen has negotiated, facilitated and advised on over 30 awards and enterprise agreements.
Ms Owen was first contracted to Monash University in 2001 to provide industrial relations advice and assistance. She went on to advise Monash University for 23 years working with all faculties and most divisions on complex staffing situations and staffing restructures. Ms Owen represented the university through every round of enterprise bargaining between 2004 and 2024 and led the negotiations which resulted in the 2024 Enterprise Agreement. Ms Owen retired in 2024.
Ms Owen and her partner, Emeritus Professor Rob Moore, have two children who are also both Monash graduates.