Staff Profile – Andrew Hamilton

03/07/2024

The City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters recently formed Community Development department which now includes Volunteer Services, has a new General Manager, Andrew Hamilton. Join Andrew as he shares what makes him tick.  

Can you tell us about your role as the General Manager of Community Development and what this entails?

I've been with NPSP for three months so i'm still working through where I can add the most value. The Community Development department provides a really diverse range of services, from running swimming pools to helping older people live full and independent lives.

My initial focus has centred on understanding the NPSP community, what their needs are, and how our services respond or strengthen the community.  

Naturally, it is our people, and their skills, experience, and ideas, that are key to continuing doing what we do well, but also innovating to offer more impact. With this in mind, I have been working with a great management team, to work out how we better integrate and evolve the things we do. Importantly, we want to keep doing what we already do well and build on this to ensure we are continually responsive to the changing needs of the community.

I'm genuinely excited to be part an awesome team, who together, form part of the fabric that makes NPSP a thriving community.

Can you share a bit about your background and career path that let you to this position?

I've had a diverse career. On leaving school, I worked as a landscape gardener – which to date, remains as one of my most rewarding occupations. I still love donning on a tool-belt and applying myself to building projects.

In a corporate sense, I have been lucky to have worked in all three tiers of government spanning human resource management to sport. This has afforded me a really sound understanding of how the systems in the community come together and deliver, for many of us, safe, liveable and fortunate lives.

What’s equally true of all of my roles is the observation that these systems have gaps. This results in an imperative for government to play a critically important role in striving to afford everyone with access to a high level of wellbeing.

Local Government is often at the forefront of this understanding and its functions are often best placed to respond to these needs. Whether that is through the provision of community spaces that provide safety, shelter, connection and education, or infrastructure and planning that delivers the community the right environment in which to thrive.

Having grown up in NPSP, the City has played a significant role in shaping who I am. It is a rare opportunity to bring all you’ve learnt and give back to the community in which you were raised.

Can you give an example of a successful community development project you have led or been part of?

There are two projects I’d like to share:

The first is an initiative I led in response to the enormously devastating Wangary bushfires in 2005 where many people lost their lives and livelihood. Through the bushfires and during the recovery, thousands of people travelled from across Australia to volunteer and donate goods to support the affected community. Unfortunately, a lack of systems meant that the volume of donated goods couldn’t be properly assessed and allocated, and that the offer of volunteerism couldn’t be utilised. Subsequently, people were advised to return home. To improve the response to future State emergency recoveries, I led the development of Australia’s first system for managing the volunteer emergency response. This system was first deployed in response to a catastrophic weather event that ravaged the Barossa Valley. This work was later recognised with both State and Commonwealth awards.

The second initiative centres on a number of very remote Indigenous communities in northern Western Australia. These communities face many challenges which include children’s attendance and achievement at school. At the time, my role included the management of an Australian Government program which delivered physical activity and nutrition services to children. This immensely popular program enjoyed high levels of participation.

Recognising this, I was able to work with local community Elders, stakeholders and other Government agencies to integrate this program into the remote school’s programming. The pilot of this initiative resulted in a significant increase in the attendance and retention of children at school, and unexpectantly, attracted nearly 20% of children who had left school to return to their studies. What I love most about this example, is the way it illustrates how seemingly unrelated interests can be leveraged to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Life is pretty chaotic in my house, with two parents working full-time whilst raising a 9 year old child, two dogs and a lizard. One of the dogs, which is a Norwegian Buhund (which I had never heard of before) is a puppy – who loves to chew everything! We love him to bits – but I had forgotten how much is involved with puppies.

An important part of our family life revolves around the Yorke Peninsula where we spend almost every alternate weekend. Weve been doing this for over a decade now. Whilst its primarily motivated by lifestyle, a small slither of old farm-land has enabled me to give back by removing of the remnant farming infrastructure (fences, water tanks etc) and slowly revegetate the area. The first trees were planted the year my daughter was born, which brings special meaning. Through this Ive also learnt that young kangaroos learn some of their sparing skills on the poor unsuspecting young trees – luckily many of the native trees are very resilient.

In between, exercise, music, learning Spanish and housework mop up whatever time is left.