Tweed Shire Council trainee Kirsty O’Keeffe has been named as the Skilled Group National Indigenous Employee of the Year. Kirsty, 21, is employed by national workforce services company Skilled Group and has been placed in Council’s Engineering and Operations division as a trainee for the past 17 months.
The annual Skilled Apprentice and Trainee of the Year Awards Program was introduced in December 2003 to recognise and highlight worker’s achievements.
Kirsty is proud of her Indigenous heritage that comes through the well known Corowa family on her mother’s side. Her uncle is the former rugby league international Larry Corowa.
Originally from Chinderah, Kirsty attended Cudgen Public School and Kingscliff High School. Kirsty was diagnosed with Type One diabetes in her early teens and has the extra challenge of managing her insulin regime in the workplace.
Her role includes working at the Engineering and Operations front counter and on the Engineering switchboard handling a diverse range of inquiries from road repairs to water and sewer issues.
Kirsty O’Keefe enjoys working at Tweed Shire.
"It is a great group of people and I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity I have been given," she said. "I had previously worked in retail and having this business and administration certificate will help me to develop skills to perhaps manage or own a business for myself in the future,"
Skilled Area Supervisor Rachael Quinlan said Kirsty had focused her application for this award more on the productive team environment at Council and her mentors rather than her own numerous achievements.
