Every fortnight, we’ll showcase the people behind Victoria Daly Regional Council and how they contribute to your communities. This week, we meet Kirri from Nauiyu.
At the end of 2021, Kirri joined Victoria Daly’s Nauiyu as the community Centrelink support officer.
But very quickly, the role turned into much more.
These days she helps with Centrelink applications, accessing superannuation, mail collection and delivery, and setting up online bank accounts.
We sat down to yarn about how she found herself in one of the most remote parts of the country, what she loves about Nauiyu, and what an average day looks like.
How long have you been working at Vic Daly and what drew you to the role?
I’ve been working with council since November last year as the Centrelink support officer. I applied for the job because I’d done something similar when I lived in Elliot, and I knew it was a good way to meet community members and become a part of the community.
What does an average day look like?
My day starts at 9am and as soon as community members see my car parked outside the office, they will come down pretty much straight away to see me. At the end of last year, I was very busy processing COVID crisis payments as well as pandemic leave for people who are working.
I also spent a lot of time putting young people onto JobSeeker payments, so yeah, last year was incredibly busy.
It’s quite funny because my role has really morphed into running quite a few services for the community. On Monday and Thursdays, we sort the mail, and then I also spend quite a bit of time helping our older residents access their superannuation, or their online banking.
A lot of our community members struggle with reading and writing and aren’t familiar with the internet, so I help people with their internet banking, ordering new banking cards.
What do you love most about your job?
The really satisfying thing about my job is being able to help people. Helping them get on the right payments. I spend a lot of time really thinking about how I can make it easier for them. The best part about it is seeing them leave the office really happy, knowing they don’t have to worry anymore about banking or Centrelink.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face?
The language barrier can sometimes be a bit hard. I need to write down a lot of what they are saying and then put it in a way that a Centrelink office might understand. I think the thing I’ve learnt is to be really patient and listen to what they are trying to tell me, so our community members get the best outcome.
What do you love about the community?
Definitely the people. People in Nauiyu are so friendly, and I can really see the importance of family in this community, they really work to support one another.