Meet Sandy: Development Administration Officer

My journey wasn’t a straight line from university into a career with council. After leaving school early to support myself, I started as a Business Administration trainee at the Rural City of Murray Bridge.

At the time, I didn’t know anything about local government, but I quickly recognised all of the great things councils do for the community and the opportunities a career in council can provide.

During my first 18 months, I completed 2 TAFE qualifications and my SACE, working across customer service, work health and safety, records management, payroll, volunteer management and strategic planning.

I was fortunate enough to be recognised for my hard work and won South Australian Trainee of the Year, representing the state at the national awards. This also gave me opportunities to speak on panels, tell my story at events, and have many other great experiences, all because of a traineeship with the council.

Now as Development Administration Officer at the City of Unley, I provide administrative support to the Planning and Building teams, making sure everything runs like clockwork.

"There are many pathways into local government and many opportunities once you’ve got a foot in the door."

My role includes meeting and committee management, overseeing committee member engagement, providing technical expertise to the team, and ensuring legislative timeframes are met, along with many other tasks including maintaining procedures, registers, and website content.

While my role isn’t predominantly outward-facing, I can see how my work has a positive impact on the community through the rest of my team. Planning is an integral part of community success, and it’s great to see the outcomes that allow the Unley community to thrive and progress while maintaining the beautiful history in the area.

There are so many pathways into council whether it be work experience, university placements, volunteering or vocational education and training, just to name a few. Just go for it!

Because of the collaboration between teams, you get exposed to a broad range of industries and roles that you might not ever interact with if you worked in a similar role outside of council. This also provides endless opportunities to broaden your skillset and experience through higher duty acting opportunities and secondments.

There are many pathways into local government and many opportunities once you’ve got a foot in the door.