I have been with Global- Mark for about three years now and entered the new Career Path of Auditing after many years in the Community Sector in many different roles.
I have raised three sons whilst forging a career in Nursing and within the Community Sector.
I initially trained as a Mothercraft Nurse in the days of Babies Homes before starting Nursing Training, back in the days of hospital training. I graduated in the last group to train in white starched aprons, and starched buttoned hats with a navy candy striped dress under the apron- I think we had 90 buttons (true) to attach with a slip pin before we hit the wards to dish up breakfast from huge hot boxes sent up from the kitchen! Nursing has changed so much! So, you must have gathered I am nearly 90! Not quite! – but I have seen an incredible amount of change since I started my career.
After a patient fell on me and broke my hip, I went back to school and came out with a Diploma of Community Services (Welfare) and so started my foray with the DHHS where I worked for many more years in Youth Justice, a short stint in Child Protection and then again in Disability.
All my experience has formed a great base for auditing within the sector and whilst I thoroughly enjoy the many different types of organisations that I audit, the travel does get tiring occasionally.
The upside is the rewards of seeing community services evolving into businesses that will be sustainable in the future and provide much needed supports and services to vulnerable people within our community.
On a personal note-my passion are my children, my grandchildren, my extended family and friends and the small local community that I live in- close to the beach where I enjoy regular beach combing walks.
I have my binoculars for ship and bird watching, as well as the occasional whale, seals, and dolphins, and I am a keen photographer.
I have been known to get involved in local ecological projects down here and sometimes find myself standing guard over baby hooded plovers (an extremely endangered species of plovers) and their delinquent parents who are intent on raising their babies in public thoroughfares. It is amazing how involved you can get trying to get three chicks to adolescence!
I have also trained as a penguin rescuer and have travelled to other parts of Victoria to assist with cleaning penguins caught up in oil spills or who have washed up on a beach during daylight hours. Did you know that if you see a little penguin on a beach in daylight hours, it has a problem and can not go to sea as it may perish due to the waterproofing on its feathers being disturbed? If you see one, call the wildlife rescue so that it can be taken off the beach, rehabilitated and then returned.
Strange people like me will pick them up, bathe them in warm soapy water on a regular basis for days and push little fish down their stinky little throats every few hours. They then have a little swim each day and hopefully start to preen themselves again to re-waterproof their feathers! After a few weeks they are returned to the beach they came from.
We are very lucky to have the Queenscliff Marine Science Laboratory close by and they do a great job at working with the community to sustain our beautiful local environment. If you ever have the chance to trip around the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, I highly recommend it- we have incredible surf beaches, award winning wineries, spectacular wetlands and bayside beaches and marine parks.
I am learning constantly working with Global-Mark and the team of auditors in the Human Services Team and look forward to continuing to develop my skills in auditing and business reviewing!
