Katie Hearn, Manager Community Development
When Katie Hearn visited Darwin for a holiday, she didn’t expect to land a fruitful career in local government.
Originally a nurse in South West Victoria, Hearn travelled overseas and decided to pursue studies in community development upon her return.
“I left nursing and began working with young people who were homeless with a great Non-Governmental Organisation. I coordinated a substitute care program with volunteer caregivers and highly vulnerable young people for approximately seven years before moving to Darwin,” she told Local Government Focus.
Since relocating to Darwin over a decade ago, Hearn has worked within Council across areas of Youth Projects, Community Development, Homeless Connect, Workforce Wellbeing and now, Community Safety and Wellbeing.
“I’ve been able to work on an incredible array of projects and am grateful for the diversity that local government and the City of Darwin offers.”
Hearn’s primary role is currently Manager Community Development, but for the past 20 months, she has been seconded to manage the Darwin Safer City program, an initiative designed to alleviate issues posed by public intoxication in the northern capital.
Darwin’s Lord Mayor Katrina Fong Lim nominated Hearn as a Local Government Focus ‘High Achiever’ for her work on this program.
Hearn said she has enjoyed the challenge of establishing the Safer City initiative.
“From engaging licensees with Police to developing an accord to hosting a stakeholder forum to crafting new policy – the breadth of the work means learning, challenge, growing experience and doing the best you possibly can for and with the community.
“We’ve just concluded community engagement activities to inform the development of a safer community plan for Darwin.
“Incredibly we’ve had over 700 responses to our survey. Intercept surveying and pop up stalls in parks, markets, bus stops, taxi ranks and vacant shops really made an impact in gathering views and ideas for a safer vibrant Darwin.
“We are now working on the plan to deliver in partnership with our stakeholders and community.”
The program has been endorsed to continue for a further three years.
Hearn said another highlight has been delivering Darwin’s Homeless Connect events (an initiative of the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors), which she said has been “particularly humbling and inspiring work to do.”
Hearn’s role does not come without challenges. From a management perspective, Hearn said recruiting and retaining skilled people is vital to delivering great outcomes, especially in some of the more specialised roles.
“From a program level, working in the alcohol harms/public intoxication issues space is a complex undertaking with multiple stakeholders. Population level change takes time so vision, leadership and resolve are important. I’m proud of Council’s efforts in this work.”
A bonus for Hearn is “the amazing people I get to work at my workplace and in the community and the incredible variety of the work”.
Local government has proven a wise, if slightly unexpected, career choice.
“It’s authentic, and at the risk of sounding corny, you really can make a difference,” Hearn said of her role at the City of Darwin.
“There are few roles where you can have a direct and positive impact on the life of your community, but working in local government is one of them. And that’s fantastic.”
