Q&A with Andrea Sorbello, Community Development Officer at Cassowary Coast Regional Council
For a majority of her career, Andrea Sorbello has worked with the community. It’s the perfect fit for someone who characterises a successful day as one where she’s helped at least a few people in her community. We caught up with Andrea to chat about what drew her back to Cassowary Coast Regional Council, and what she’s enjoying the most about her role.
Q. Can you tell us about your career history and what led you to your current role?
A. I’m a local, born and bred here in Innisfail! I started in an admin role here in 1994 when the council was formally known as Johnstone Shire Council. I left in 2003 and I moved to Brisbane for a year doing work in various Government agencies, and then I came back to Innisfail. I found myself working in a community Aboriginal Health Service organisation which I really enjoyed. I stayed there for 15 years.
I had a break from working for a while, and then I picked up some temporary work in the community services team at Queensland Health, and after that I worked in aged care in an administration team. I then secured a position at Centrelink here at Innisfail – that experience was really eye-opening! I enjoyed being the first point of contact, being a local and knowing everyone. I worked nine months there and when my contract ended, I put my name down at a recruitment agency and when they saw that I had local government experience, they put me forward for a temporary contract here at Cassowary as an Administration Officer in the Community Relations and Services team. It was initially for a three-month contract; it was extended and then extended again another two more times!
This Community Development Officer position then came up in the Community Services team – it was a role I had been doing while the officer was on leave. I was successful in applying and officially took over the role in June 2023.
Q. Congratulations! What does your role entail – can you give us some examples of the work you do?
A. I work across the community liaising with various stakeholders to ensure the council’s objectives are met. It’s all about the council working in partnership with the community. A typical day could see me supporting a new member of our team, guiding them on how everything works here at council. We’re always working on different projects – right now I’m developing policy and guidelines around our Australia Day event and ceremony. That includes setting up criteria and eligibility for the awards and how it works together with the community.
I’m also starting to work on projects that we host every year; events like the upcoming Tilapia Fishing Tournament held over the school holidays. It’s a kids fishing tournament – we work closely with biosecurity and we have prizes for the most fish caught. It’s lots of fun.
Council has a youth advisory committee that I also work with. We discuss improving how we engage and communicate with young people to get a better understanding of what they want to see here in their community.
We also run a careers day at a local high school. There are up to 20 stall holders – with local businesses, Queensland Police, Queensland Health all attending. It’s so well supported; we can have up to 400 students come through. I’m also in the team that’s responsible for community grants which includes a youth financial assistance program. If a young person is selected to represent their region in a sport or in arts, and they have travel costs, they can apply to council for financial assistance to make it a reality.
Q. What do you find the most rewarding about your role?
A. The teamwork here is fantastic – I find it really rewarding working together with my own team and other departments to achieve great outcomes for the community. That’s what I love the most, for me it’s about helping the community and giving your best.
Getting feedback from the community when you have helped out is also really rewarding. It’s just the little things give me happiness here. Being local and working in council is great, it’s a real advantage to understanding how the community works.
Q. What does success look like to you in your role?
A. If I go home knowing that I have helped one or two people in the community then I’m happy. Knowing that I’ve adhered to council’s core values – respect, integrity, and courage, and knowing that I can sign off and feel good that I’ve achieved everything I’ve had to that day.
Q. How would you describe the learning and development opportunities at council?
A. You’re really encouraged to grow here at council. Right now, I’m in the process of completing my Diploma of Community Services. I applied for the Queensland Government’s fee-free qualifications scheme and was eligible. I have also put my hand up to do fire warden training, and I’ve expressed my interest to be selected for the rural management challenge for council – that’s where councils in the area compete against each other and you have to go outside of your comfort zone!
I will be attending a two-day local government women’s conference in Cairns this week – the Deadly Women in Local Government Conference. It’s a leadership conference with workshops to help us grow our leadership skills, problem solving skills and helping with goal-setting, as well as sessions on soft skills. I’m going with six other female colleagues – we were given the opportunity as a part of the council’s action plan for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. Council is working on improving how they deal with our First Nations culture and team members.
Q. What would you say to someone who was considering a career in local government?
A. I would say it’s an amazing opportunity to learn what’s out there in your community. There are just so many elements to local government – it’s not just what you see every day, like someone filling in a pothole! There’s so much more to working in a council. But there’s one thing that we all have in common here – we’re all in it for the community.
If someone was considering working here at council, I’d say give it a go! I love my job and get so much satisfaction from it.
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