Sergeant credits good communication with employer as key to Reserve career success

Civilian employers throughout Australia who go above and beyond in supporting their Defence Reserve employees were officially recognised as part of Defence’s Employer Support Awards.

CAPTION: Sergeant Kym Walker tackles an obstacle course during Battle PT. Story by Flight Lieutenant Nick O’Connor.

The annual awards formally recognised employers for workplace practices that enable reservists to complete their ADF service commitments.

For Sergeant Kym Walker, a warehouse supervisor in far-north Queensland, the key to juggling a busy civilian career and family life with her ADF Reserve commitments can be summed up in two words: good communication.

With more than 18 years of experience in the Army, Sergeant Walker recently spent time serving with the Regional Force Surveillance Group as a distribution supervisor at the 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment.

This role, combined with the vast amount of previous experience gained as an Army Reservist, greatly complemented her civilian job as a warehouse supervisor for the INLOC Group.

INLOC works across northern Australia and Papua New Guinea and executes mentoring and ranger programs alongside Indigenous ranger groups and with many remote Indigenous communities across large expanses of the country and coastline.

The INLOC Group recently took out the Medium Private Sector category of the prestigious Defence 2021 Employer Support Awards in Queensland for their unwavering support of Sergeant Walker’s Army Reserve service.

“I began working for INLOC in early 2020, and INLOC accepted that I had limited hours available and provided a position I could perform in conjunction with my Defence responsibilities I had already committed to,” Sergeant Walker said.

“The success of this transition centred on good communication, flexibility and being willing to problem solve as issues arose through the transition period.”

Head of Joint Support Services Division Major General Douglas Laidlaw congratulated the INLOC Group and thanked all employers throughout Australia for supporting their ADF Reserve employees.

“Every day, employers support reservists through a range of flexible working arrangements and policies,” Major General Laidlaw said.

“The support provided is not only valued by the reservist, but more broadly by the entire ADF.”

All state and territory award category winners will be considered with their interstate counterparts at the National Employer Support Awards scheduled for November.

For more information on support for ADF Reserve members and their civilian employers, visit www.defencereservessupport.gov.au

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