As the newly appointed Director, Government and External Relations, Rachael West will work across the University to enhance Flinders’ external relationships. We learn about her globetrotting career and her plans to elevate Flinders’ reputation and influence.
What is your role at Flinders?
I’ve recently been appointed as the Director Government and External Relations, a new role created in the Vice-Chancellor’s Portfolio. I’ll be working in partnership with our Colleges and Institutes to enhance our existing external relationships and help cultivate new ones.
The aim is for our team to be a university resource that supports and provides advice on external relations, so that we’re all engaging in a coordinated, strategic and proactive way that enhances the university’s reputation.
How has your career reached this point?
I credit my experience here at Flinders University as a student (many years ago!) for kick-starting my career. As part of my Honours Degree, I completed an internship in Cabinet Office, which ultimately lead to an ongoing position. I then joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as part of its graduate program, moving to Canberra then overseas as part of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands and then on diplomatic posting to Washington DC.
After returning to Adelaide in 2015, I was keen use my government experience to help non-government organisations navigate and advocate to the bureaucracy, and ended up joining the University of Adelaide to establish that university’s first government relations function. Most recently, I was at the Australian Red Cross in a strategy and growth role, supporting the growth of the organisation’s programs across the state.
What motivated your external engagement work?
External engagement has been a consistent theme in my career. I enjoy the challenge of engaging with a range of external audiences – to communicate a sometimes complex or challenging subject and finding common ground with each stakeholder’s priorities. It also means that every day is different to the next. In the Solomon Islands, for example, I worked with policing and military authorities one day, then on the next day I did community outreach in one of the provinces – communicating in Pidgin!
What do you love most about your work?
I’ve always had an interest in government and politics. When I first started out in my career, that meant working in government itself. But increasingly I’ve found that what I enjoy most is using my government experience and understanding to help other organisations navigate this world and get results.
I love collaborating with my colleagues to build strong relationships with key external stakeholders. It’s so rewarding to have identified a priority of government, then bringing them together with the relevant expertise and experience at the University – and seeing what can result, whether it be securing funding for a Red Cross program supporting women on temporary visas or demonstrating an institute’s ground-breaking research. I am really enjoying being back in the higher education sector, which I find such a positive environment to work in. It really feels like everyone is motivated to do things better.
Who inspires you?
I tend to be inspired by people who follow their passions – and this includes people I started with at DFAT who left to pursue other fields. A really good friend became an obstetrician and delivers babies in Newcastle; another runs a bakery in London, having previously worked as a diplomat and then as a journalist reporting from Afghanistan.
How do you like to spend your spare time?
I’m a bit of a nana at heart. I love nothing more than pottering around the garden, taking the dog for a walk and reading British crime novels.