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staff profile
TWO MINUTES WITH... Each edition, we profile a staff member who is an integral part of the Proximity story. Today we meet, Principal Advisor, Sarah Byrne.
Tell us how you came to join the Proximity team?
What is your proudest moment (in a professional context)?
I had good experiences with Proximity as a client, and had a high opinion of the lawyers there when looking to backfill in my Branch. When I left the APS to go to the Bar, I had a few months between passing the Bar exam and starting the practice course in Sydney, so Sean (King) asked if I’d be interested in a few months’ secondment. I found all the flexibility, autonomy and variety I’d been looking for - and loved it so much I stayed.
I’m fortunate to have a few to choose from - I’ve been around for a long time. I am proud to have been the first General Counsel for a central agency, when I was appointed to build the Finance legal branch from scratch. I am proud of an advice I wrote for the Registrar of Plant Breeders’ Rights that was cited and followed by several international courts. I’m proud of the ACT Sexual Assault Reform Program, a long and difficult project involving multiple stakeholders, that has genuinely improved the experiences of survivors of sexual assault. And I was very proud of passing the hideous Bar exam!
What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? ‘The thing that makes you awesome is the thing that makes you suck.’ That is to say, it’s important to realise that sometimes the characteristics that make a person shine come from the same place as the characteristics that annoy you.
and how good it is. Some weeks there is so much going on I literally cannot get to all of it. 2018 was a slow year - I only saw 88 shows - most years I average well over 100. (And, of course, Canberra is where I met my husband, another massive theatre wonk.)
What advice do you give to someone starting out in a career? You don’t get participation awards in real life - you will be expected to do more than just show up - you need to make a contribution. And find a job where the culture matches your values - it will save you a lot of misery.
What is the best thing about working in the national capital?
If you had your time again what would you have done differently?
Non-Canberrans don’t get how much is going on here because they expect everything to be centred in the CBD. I love how much theatre we have here,
My main career missteps have been where I found myself in an ethical dilemma and did the right thing. I would not change any of those decisions, but
THE PULSE ISSUE TWO
