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I am a proud Yuin woman with family connections to Dharrawal Nation and the La Perouse community. I was born in Nowra NSW (2 hrs south of Sydney) and grew up in my community, the old Roseby Park (Jerringa) mission in Culburra, up till I was 10 years old. Growing up on Country and in my community connected me to my culture and identity. I was surrounded by all my cousins, Nan, Pop, aunties, uncles, Mum and my stepdad. Family has always been such a huge influence on me growing up.
It was hard for my family to find jobs and to provide the life that we deserved, which led us to move. We relocated to Queensland which was a cultural shift since I was used to being around community and immersed with culture. I faced identity challenges as I didn’t fit the “stereotype” Aboriginal person. However, I was able to overcome that adversity and maintain my cultural connection through my mum and aunties. This has a profound impact on the person I am today.
I now reside with my partner and son on beautiful Kabi Kabi land (the Sunshine Coast) which fills my cup as it so close to the ocean. As a saltwater woman I live and breathe the beach which always makes me feel like home. In my free time and anytime outside of my mummy duties, I’m at the beach.
I am the Community Experience Officer within IBA’s Community & Customer Experience team (CCE). My role includes reviewing some of IBA’s initiatives, projects, products and processes to ensure we have our customer experience at the centre. This includes handling customer complaints and providing various project supports, giving our customers not only the best customer service, but the best customer experience.
It's an interesting space to work in but it’s also an important one. We are here to serve a specific client set. Our customers’ journey with IBA should be culturally appropriate and supportive at all points of interaction with us.
I started my career journey working in various admin roles. I worked in industries such as insurance which focus on profit rather than people which didn’t sit with my value set. It made me realise that I wanted to do something where I have that connection and passion, especially working with mob. So, if I can make even a small difference for my mob and assist with community development, that’s success for me.
I started working at IBA in 2017 as a Business Support Officer then moved to the Special Projects team where I worked on projects such as Women in Business and the Accelerator program. I left IBA in April 2021 to begin studying a Bachelor of Social Science full-time. The social impact of the work really cemented my passion in working in this space.
When I saw the opportunity of the Customer Experience Officer within CCE come up, I knew I wanted to stay at IBA so I applied and have been working here ever since.
I see IBA as having an important job to do for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the wellbeing of community.
The work we do improves the inequality faced by Indigenous Australians. Engaging customers and centring our projects and programs around mob ways of doing and being, is a powerful way of driving that change.
A lot of mob have a mistrust towards government. It’s important to build that trust and fill those gaps. There are so many opportunities to help our mob, and I wanted to be part of an organisation that has that potential. It also aligns with my personal values and wanting to see mob do well. I want to be able to influence that any way I can.
Every holiday season between November to December it’s everything Christmas. From movies such as Home Alone, Elf, The Holiday to cheesy Netflix Christmas Movies like The Knight Before Christmas and The Holiday Calendar; I love them all. Much to my partners dismay, that is 😉
