Anything is Possible – GEGAC Staff Advance Their Careers Through Ongoing Study

Integrated Family Services team members Keonie Hayes and Kathleen Whittingham are just two of the GEGAC staff that have been able to advance their careers through ongoing education. Photo: Troy Brown/GEGAC

Here at GEGAC, we are big believers in the power of education and training to open new doors for people, to change lives, to make previously impossible things possible.

That’s why we love it when our people are able to combine ongoing education with their current paid roles.

Right across GEGAC there are courageous and hardworking people studying toward additional qualifications – online, in-person, and sometimes a mixture of both.

That is a win for GEGAC, for those staff, and for the broader community.

It means our staff are better trained, more confident in their work, and more able to grow and transition into other roles.

It also means a bigger pool of skilled, motivated and experienced local people to progress into management and leadership roles at GEGAC and beyond.

In our Integrated Family Services team there are a number of staff upskilling themselves with further qualifications, including Team Leader Kathleen Whittingham and Support Worker Keonie Hayes.

Kathleen was originally headed toward a career in education, and had earned a Graduate Diploma of Primary Teaching.

But she soon found herself drawn to the work of helping especially vulnerable women, families and children, and took on a role in GEGAC’s Children, Youth and Families division.

Thanks to the support of her managers and colleagues, Kathleen was able to invest in that career transition by completing a Diploma of Community Services Forensic/Statutory Stream, through a partnership between GEGAC and Gippsland TAFE.

Now, she’s in a leadership role.

Keonie Hayes’ pathway was different.

She started working at GEGAC in a reception role, back in 2015.

After a few of life’s twists and turns and some time in other jobs, she was offered a support worker role in our Integrated Family Services team, where her empathy, experience and connections to community were qualifications enough.

But, like many of us, Keonie wanted the “piece of paper,” and so last year she began a Diploma in Community Services.

After two years of hard work, Keonie will graduate next month!

Not only is this great for GEGAC, it also gives Keonie more power over her own future, and options as to where her career will take her next.

For now, she feels grateful, and aware that what she does every day has a huge impact for mob, especially for those that are struggling in this moment.

“It’s ‘big’ work,” she says. “Being able to help families in community, help them make positive changes in their life, it means a lot.”

“I reflect all the time, and think back on what clients have achieved. And of course you sometimes see them around town, in community, and they are thankful. When you see the changes you have been able to help make happen, yeah, it’s very rewarding.”

Last month Kathleen and Keonie got a chance to talk to young people considering their career options at the TAFE Gippsland Community Services Pathways Expo in Morwell.

It was a great opportunity to reach school leavers and TAFE students with information about the great opportunities to combine work and study with a role in community services.

If you want to be able study while you work and grow your career on the go, we’d love to meet you.

Take a look at gegac.org.au/careers, or reach out to us at HR@gegac.org.au