Meet the EPIC Cairns team

Jill has been an Employment Consultant with EPIC Assist since December 2018. She loves her role and enjoys every single day at work. Jill has been in the vocational industry for 25 years in various roles and loves the achievements and successful outcomes they can create for EPIC’s participants. When not at work, Jill enjoys spending time with her family and entertaining her friends.

After a long career in the wine industry, David started his employment services career in 2002. In 2006 David saw an opportunity to enter disability employment with the pioneer intellectual disability specialist Barkuma. While at Barkuma, David was nominated to and elected to the Board of the Disability Employment peak body, Disability Employment Australia. David served the maximum allowable terms (eight years) and in that time held the positions of Chair, Vice Chair and Director. This brought significant exposure to senior government ministers and bureaucrats and national policy settings. In 2016, David moved to Melbourne and joined EPIC Assist as State Manager of a new NDIS Employment Program before moving to the Gold Coast to take up the role of Operations Manager with the responsibility for the EPIC DES Program in Northern NSW, Gold Coast, and Cairns. He loves how EPIC values their participants and gives them the best chance to more fully participate in the community. David made the decision to relocate to Cairns to become Regional Coordinator in 2021. In recognition of his peak body experience and contacts, David also holds the EPIC role of Policy Advisor reporting to the CEO. This role interacts with all the employment peak bodies. David has also, as part of a new trial for EPIC, been accepted into the National Panel of Assessors. This role involves the assessment of participants for supported wage and ongoing support – both significant pillars in disability employment.

Having worked in the employment sector for over 20 years, Trudy believes working for EPIC since 2011 has been her biggest achievement. Trudy has worked in a variety of roles from job search trainer, registration clerk, job placement officer, labour high consultant, business development manager, and many more. She loves working in a team who all have the same interest at heart: helping people succeed on their journey. Trudy is passionate about helping people with disability be treated without prejudice and giving everyone a chance. She works to find her job seekers’ interests, reverse markets them to prospective employers, and provides post-placement support and mentoring to create sustainable employment. In her spare time, Trudy volunteers at the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre over on Fitzroy Island, and enjoys going out for long lunches and spending time with her family and friends.

Narelle has worked in recruitment for the past 6 years within Cairns and surrounding areas. She has also owned and operated her own business which employed many people from all walks of life.

Mark has worked in the Disability Employment Services for the past 25 years and has built many strong relationships with Businesses in the Innisfail area. Mark believes in getting to know his job seekers interests and strengths to ensure he can find them a job they love. Outside of work, Mark loves to spend time with his 2 sons and daughter, and his 8 grandchildren.

Tracey is a psychology graduate with a history in mental health, peer support, and Indigenous mentoring. Tracey loves working with a great team who are all passionate about providing the best opportunities for people with disability. She believes in building connections and working together as a partnership to help people work through barriers and achieve their employment goals. Everyone deserves the same opportunity to reach their potential, and she loves seeing her participants develop security from a steady and reliable income and happiness due to social interaction and belongining. Tracey says the most important parts of her job are listening to the job seeker and educating employers. In her spare time, she enjoys dining out, music, and spending time with her son and pets.