Aboriginal Hostels appoints Melayne Williamson as Chief People Officer

Aboriginal Hostels (AHL) has appointed Melayne Williamson as Chief People Officer, bringing more than two decades of experience across human resources, people and culture, organisational transformation, business operations and organisational capability.

Williamson joins AHL from the NSW Department of Customer Service, where she held several senior leadership positions spanning HR, transformation and business operations. 

In her new role, she will bring her experience in people leadership and organisational transformation to AHL, which has a significant First Nations workforce and a national network serving First Nations people across Australia.

Experience across HR and transformation

Before joining AHL, Williamson served as Human Resources Director at the NSW Department of Customer Service, a role she took up in February 2024.

She previously served as Executive Director Transformation from 2023 to 2024 and Director People and Culture from 2022 to 2023. The roles expanded her remit across people leadership, organisational transformation and enterprise capability.

From 2020 to 2022, Williamson was Director Business Operations, Performance and Assurance within the department's Better Regulation Division. She earlier served as Director, Program Management Office, Better Regulation Division at the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation between 2018 and 2020.

Her responsibilities across these roles included business operations, performance, improvement, quality assurance, policy and organisational development.

Two decades in public sector

Williamson's public-sector career spans more than 20 years. At Safety, Return to Work and Support, she held a number of leadership roles, including Executive Officer, Strategy and Performance Division; Manager Customer Feedback; Manager, Strategic Projects; and Program Manager, Organisational Capability and Development.

The positions gave her experience across strategy, organisational capability, performance management and service improvement.

Williamson holds an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business, with a focus on Strategic Human Resource Management, which she completed in 2018. 

She has also completed the Public Sector Management Program (PSMP) in Business Administration and Management.

Her appointment comes as AHL continues to operate a national network serving First Nations communities, with Williamson's background spanning people strategy, organisational capability and transformation now coming into the organisation's senior people leadership.