What is your role at WorkCover?
My role is to lead the end to end relationship for all small businesses in Queensland in relation to all of their Workers compensation needs. In the Small and New Business teams, we have 125 people who strive to support our customers and be a source of expertise for them, both injured workers and employers, so that workers can return to work as quickly and successfully as possible.
What qualifications do you have?
Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movement Studies – BAppSc (HMS),
Masters of Scientific Studies, majoring in cardiac and spinal injury rehabilitation – MScStud
Master of Business Administration - MBA
What was your first role?
When I first graduated from University I worked in a rehabilitation centre as an Exercise Physiologist assisting injured people to complete supervised exercise programs. My role involved exercise prescription, supervision, hydrotherapy sessions, functional capacity assessments and providing assistance to the onsite physiotherapists. It was a varied role and I have a lot of exposure to different types of injuries, people and professions.
What types of opportunities are there for Graduates in your area?
When I first graduated there weren’t many opportunities for grads in my profession and many grads volunteered their time to gain experience. The Allied Health industry has grown considerably in the past 20 years with many more opportunities available to recent graduates. Currently I see opportunities in a broad range of industries, in addition to the traditional health sector roles for Allied Health professionals, for example, Workplace health and safety roles, education (both formal and co-curricular), many opportunities for your own business, insurance – workers compensation, private health, superannuation, sports associations and the tourism industry.
What kind of leader are you?
I would hope that my peers and team members would say that I am an authentic people leader. My passion is seeing people develop and achieve their goals, and become a better version of themselves. I have been fortunate to have a number of opportunities at WorkCover to develop my leadership skills, including further study, real-life leadership experiences, on the job learning and mentorships.
What advice would you give a new Graduate?
Give everything a go. Don’t narrow yourself into a blinkered path because you don’t know what opportunities are out there. I would never have thought, or planned, to work in ‘insurance’ with an allied health background, but my roles at WorkCover have enabled me to use my skills from my degree to help people recover from injury, liaise with other medical and allied health professionals and gain many additional skills that I didn’t know I had a passion for.