People Reflections on the planning graduate journey

The Science and Planning Graduate program is a two-year program with three eight-month rotations including at least one regional placement.

Ellen Ryan and Sarah Burger were the only two planning graduates in the 2019-2020 cohort. With February 2021 marking the end of their graduate journey and the start of the next phase of their careers, Ellen and Sarah ponder the planning world from a graduate’s point of view and share their reflections.

Ellen: I studied architecture at the University of Sydney and the brief taste of urban planning I had made me want to work more closely with communities to improve how they live and work through built form. After I graduated, I packed up my aspirations and moved to Melbourne where a year later I landed a job in the graduate program where I spent my three rotations at DELWP. My veteran public servant uncle tells me to get a job in the government you first need a job in the government!

I went from zero to 100 fast in my first rotation in Planning Systems, working on state-wide bushfire planning policy. If you want to know why and how a Bushfire Management Overlay is applied to your property, I’m your gal! My second rotation was processing local planning scheme amendments in Barwon South West, so I packed up and moved to Geelong – and never left! I take pride in helping to get a whiskey distillery in Colac through the system. My third rotation was at Planning Panels Victoria and I loved being behind the scenes of major strategic planning issues and working with the team. I am now working as a Project Officer for Revitalising Central Geelong, helping to manage million dollar projects in central Geelong.

I never fully appreciated the role of policy in almost everything prior to joining government. I have learnt that policy is where you can make the greatest change for good (rather than through one sustainably designed building at a time) and that it’s about solving problems creatively, purposefully and innovatively. Policy needs creative people and all it takes is one person to show confidence in your ideas or to role model the attitude and ideas you want to pursue. I’m not currently in a policy role but when I do return to it, I’d like to bring my skills in visual communication and prototyping to an interactive and collaborative policy process. I’ll have to continue to work on my ability to advocate for my ideas, which is a skill I’m keen to develop more and will serve me well throughout my career.

I’m still not sure what the future holds but my experience with the graduate program has been invaluable. I certainly have an appreciation of the many cogs that turn to keep the Victorian planning system functioning and I have experienced personal growth, most notably in self-confidence. And if I ever return to architecture or go down the urban design path, I will be all the better for it.

Ellen Ryan and Sarah Burger

Sarah: Many moons ago, after finishing the box set of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet, I began an undergraduate degree in marine biology and then a Master of Environment at the University of Melbourne. Although foundationally, my knowledge is in science and quantitative data, I learnt the value of different knowledge bases, alternative perspectives, and the relationships between them. My professional career began in the not-for-profit world before being offered a role in the ‘promised land’ (the public service) as part of the graduate program.

In my first rotation in environmental impact assessment at DELWP I hit the ground running, assessing the environmental impact of major projects ranging from mining to wind farms, as well as learning how to survive and thrive in government. My second rotation was at Aboriginal Victoria in the Department of Premier and Cabinet where I worked in policy, assessments and engagement with Traditional Owners. This intergovernmental experience was a real cross-pollination of knowledge and I feel so grateful to have had such an incredible opportunity. My third rotation was back in DELWP in the statutory planning team in Loddon-Mallee where I gained an understanding of the nuanced work and context of the region, which is something I don’t think I would be able to learn anywhere else.

During my time in the graduate program, I had the opportunity to be exposed to a wide variety of work and to so many different people, and I was given such freedom to drive my work and energy into interesting and impactful projects.

One of the biggest things I will take away from the last two years is that genuine and proper engagement is crucial to create relevant and useful outcomes. Relationships are what drive me, and, in my view, it is worth being late on a deadline to understand perspectives, opportunities, costs, and outcomes.

My career so far has been a real ‘zig zag.’ I fully expect this to be the pattern for the rest of my life.

A fellow planner recently gave me some of the best career advice I have ever received – she told me to find my fire and what drives me, rather than focus on the title or the salary. If I do that then the jobs, promotions and everything else will follow. For me, this certainly holds true in my current role as a Native Title Coordinator - I am working with legislation and people to embed Aboriginal voices in decision-making processes and to promote visibility and respect for Aboriginal culture and heritage.

Ellen Ryan is a Project Officer in the Revitalising Central Geelong team at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. Sarah Burger is a Native Title Coordinator in Earth Resources Regulation at the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.