Althea Brunskill – Community Services NSW Manager

What do you do at Karralika?

I manage the following programs, based in Wagga Wagga, Griffith and Moruya, NSW;

• The Child and Youth Programs
• The Community Drug Action Team, (CDAT)
• Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Day Programs

What do you like about working at Karralika?

The organisation values people; clients and staff; culture and diversity. I also feel very much at home, with ‘multi-disciplinary’ teams, working with nurses, Social Workers, Counsellors and Lived Experience Peer Support Workers and Case Managers.

The broader “Why” of what I do is to support people who struggle with addictions in ways that support their lives; I do that indirectly, as a manager of programs. A healthy dose of humour and creativity is also evident with the Karralika ‘family’.

What is your background?

My initial background was nursing, and I worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and England before coming to Australia.   As a Registered Nurse, I specialised in Midwifery, and Mental Health. Whilst in the UK, I worked in various Mental Health settings, and came to Australia in the early ‘90’s as part as a NSW Health recruitment for nurses in specialist areas. I worked at Charles Sturt University lecturing in Mental Health, as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in regional  Mental Health settings, and in O’Connor House, an AOD detox and rehabilitation centre.

I joined Relationships Australia Canberra & Region in 2007; whilst there, I completed a Graduate Diploma in Dispute Resolution. I spent 16 years as a family and workplace Mediator. I worked in various leadership roles at RACR before joining Karralika in February 2024.

I have always been drawn to work that ‘makes a difference’ however big or small.