Bachelor of Public Administration

Since finishing my degree in Public Administration I have held a number of roles within the South Australian Government. I started my career in the Housing SA Graduate Program, I subsequently moved into a Senior Policy Officer role. I currently manage a team of staff responsible for developing new initiatives and processes to improve the quality of housing and homelessness services provided by Housing SA and our non-Government partners. I have found my career very rewarding as it provides me an opportunity to improve the quality of services the Government provides for some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

I’ve found the teaching staff at Flinders to be nothing but encouraging, engaged, and supportive. My course has given me solid set of skills in research, written and oral communication, and critical analysis, which are enormously useful. In addition, the Parliamentary Internship provides a great opportunity to be familiarised with the work of government and the public service. The Parliamentary Internship placed me in the office of a state government minister where I completed an extended research project on a topic of real importance to the State, it was very satisfying, and it’s an experience that will be very valuable in pursuing work in the public service.

My Diploma of Management from TAFE allowed me to study public administration at Flinders via the VET pathway. The online delivery enabled me to balance a busy full time job working overseas with Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and the birth of two children while I studied. I was able to study while in some of the most inhospitable places on earth, like the Somali border of Ethiopia. I liked the variety of topics available, especially that I was able to incorporate some International Relations topics.

As a mature aged student who graduated over 20 years ago, the Bachelor of Government and Public Management has given me a second chance at a new life. I am now in a high achiever’s program gaining invaluable experience in a government department on a real project with the opportunity to conduct myself, much like a consultant. What was once a scary dream is a fantastic university experience on my way to my new career and brand new, educated outlook on life!