Palm Island, or "Bwgcolman" to the locals, is located on the Great Barrier Reef near Townsville in North Queensland. It’s a tropical paradise but for Corrina Ross, it’s home. With jobs scarce on the island, she feared that rather than finding long-term employment locally and giving back to her community, she would have to leave the island to get a job to build the future she wanted for herself.

So, when Corrina began an activity offered under the Australian Government’s Community Development Programme (CDP), she didn’t expect it would change her life.

The local CDP provider, Campbell Page, was running an activity through the island’s Arts Centre; Corrina took the opportunity to expand her skills and undertake activities which will help her get a job when one became available. The training also helped her self-esteem; so much so that when she applied for a job with Campbell Page just two weeks into the activity, she got it, and hasn’t looked back since.

Corrina loves her job and the experience and opportunities it is giving her.

“I have worked across a variety of tasks at Campbell Page, which has given me the opportunity to develop a range of skills and learn about the business at different levels,” Corrina said.

“The job has given me financial security and a sense of achievement and belonging. I’ve always wanted to contribute to my community and now I can stay on Palm Island and help develop the community and see it thrive. And gaining employment from the very people who helped me has inspired me to continue the cycle of contributing to Palm Island.”