The Hallowian - Volume I 2021 - Flipbook - Page 22
imagined having the opportunity to
work directly in a pandemic response,
let alone two years into my public
service career! The past 12 months
have brought a number of highs and
lows, from watching Victoria record
several hundred cases a day in mid-2020
to seeing Australia and New Zealand
launching our travel bubble after our
successful containment of COVID-19,
and even having briefings and graphs
that I have produced sent directly to
the Prime Minister’s office. The past 12
months have also seen many late nights
and weekends worked but I do not think
anything will ever be as professionally
and personally rewarding as knowing I
have helped keep Australians safe from
COVID-19.
Emily Kirkpatrick
Abbey Gasperini
Registered Nurse
(Class of 2017)
I completed a three-year Bachelor of
Nursing at Griffith University while
working part time at aged care homes.
After applying for nursing positions
all over the state, Queensland Health
contacted me to apply to become a part
of the Pandemic Surge Pool. Soon after I
was employed, I was offered a five-month
contract in the COVID Vaccination Clinic
at Ipswich Hospital, administering COVID
vaccines.
I love every moment of the work. It is a
wonderful feeling to be part of such a
big and important machine. It is the true
cliché of being part of a team working
towards an important goal. There have
been many problems with the process,
but we work through them. I work with
lovely people who are also enthusiastic
and on a daily basis I meet an incredible
variety of people on a very personal level.
20
Sometimes we feel as though we are
being torn between ever-changing
Commonwealth policies and the media.
The Hallowian | 2021
The influence the media has on the public
has made our job hard at times. This
pandemic has taken over the entire world
and I am so happy to be doing work that
is a major part of the solution.
Above image: Abbey (third from left)
Below image: Abbey (middle)
Surveillance Officer – National
Incident Room
(Class of 2012)
I am a federal public servant and hold a
Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Master
of Public Health from The University of
Queensland.
In April 2020, I was seconded to the Australian
Government Department of Health to work
in the Epidemiology and Surveillance section
of the COVID-19 National Incident Room.
For the first six months of my secondment, I
contributed to daily reporting and advice on
the spread of COVID-19 cases within Australia
for government decision makers, including the
Chief Medical Officer, state and territory Chief
Health Officers, federal Cabinet Ministers, and
National Cabinet. My current work involves
monitoring the international spread of cases
and providing policy and public health advice
on the risk of importing COVID-19 from
overseas.
Contributing to Australia’s COVID-19 response
has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: As
a public health student, I never could have
While I am still early in my public
service career, my experience has
further bolstered my passion for public
health policy. Population health and
epidemiology are such exciting, farreaching and rewarding fields. Working
at the forefront of the pandemic has
really cemented my passion and drive to
continue combining my technical public
health skills and policy experience in
government for the foreseeable future.