When Laura Murphy joined our team in 2021 as a part-time Administrator, she brought with her 20 years of incredible customer service experience. Laura has valued the impact she can have on her local community and career at South Western Sydney Primary Health Network, recently stepping into a challenging role. Laura is excited to see what new career pathways this new position opens.
A healthy career
Laura has always had a passion for travel. She’s visited some incredible places – from Egypt to the Canadian Rockies and tours of Christmas markets in Europe. She also built a successful career around it, spending almost 20 years as a travel agent.
But at some point, Laura realised the travel industry simply couldn’t offer her the career growth she’d hoped for. Working in travel retail stores and delivering incredible customer service wasn’t offering new opportunities. So, in 2021, Laura decided it was time for a change.
We’re happy to say that’s when Laura chose to join us at South Western Sydney PHN, branching out from her customer-facing background to work in our Campbelltown office as a Procurement and Contracts Coordinator.
Then, two years on, with her youngest daughter starting high school, Laura felt ready to invest more hours in her career. And just a couple of months later, she stepped into a hybrid position involving two days in her administrative role and two days as a Contracts Advisor and has since become a full-time Procurement and Contracts Coordinator.
“I was excited and a bit nervous when offered the new role. It’s a totally different path for me. But I’m excited by the new challenge. I didn’t come into South Western Sydney PHN with a set idea of where I wanted my career to go, so I’m very open to trying something new. And I feel like here, I’m being offered a career path. You don’t have to look outside the organisation to find a change.”
As a Procurement and Contracts Coordinator, Laura works with the Commissioning, Mental Health and Integrated & Priority Population Health teams to commission different service providers to deliver the most needed healthcare programs to our communities - from mental health and suicide prevention to diabetes care and antenatal programs.
“I get to work with many passionate people, especially our subject matter experts, many of whom are former clinicians. They all have different areas they’re very passionate about, and it’s catching!” Laura laughs. “It helps get everyone excited about the programs we’re funding.”
Connecting to community
Growing up, Laura never anticipated she’d one day call South Western Sydney home. A country girl at heart, Laura was raised in Goulburn, just north of Canberra, and spent her early adult life in or near the nation’s capital. However, Laura’s husband is a South Western Sydney boy, and in 2015, the couple and their young children moved to Campbelltown. Now, the region feels like home to Laura, too.
“Up here, there’s a real sense of community. Everyone is really welcoming and friendly. They’ll jump in and help at things like the kids’ sports events. I’ve made some lifelong friends through the kids’ schools, too, whereas in Canberra, there just wasn’t that sense of community. People tended to stick to themselves.”
And Laura loves seeing the impact of South Western Sydney PHN’s work unfold, right in front of her eyes.
“I’ll see the programs we’ve commissioned being advertised on social media, and you just know it means those programs are helping people. It gives you the warm fuzzies that you’re doing something for the community.”
Support to thrive
As well as helping the community, Laura says working at South Western Sydney PHN means she has more support for herself and her family.
“I’ve never worked for an organisation so conscious of its employees’ wellbeing. We have yoga classes and webinars on mental health and wellness, and we’re always being asked how things could be improved. The office just has got this really upbeat feeling, too. It means I’m excited to go in and see people!”
Laura says having the flexibility to work from home part-time and the autonomy to plan her day also makes a big difference.
“It really is the little things. Like this morning, it was freezing, and I realised my kids had grown out of their long pants. I had the flexibility to take them to the uniform shop before school and make sure they had warm clothes. I didn’t have to worry about getting into the office exactly at nine. It’s small, but things like that make a big difference. They make me super happy.”