Janine Healey – Chartered Accountant, Ruddicks, Launceston, BBus (Accounting), University of Tasmania, 1979

“University training does not necessarily reflect what you will be doing in real life.”

Prior to working for Ruddicks, Janine worked for two of the big four accounting firms, KPMG and Deloitte. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. Her passion for her work and active service to the Tasmanian community has been demonstrated by the number of Directorships, Council memberships and Ministerial appointments she has held over the years. Currently, Janine is a State Councillor & former Chairman of the Taxation Institute of Australia; Director of Hydro Tasmania; Director of Female Factory Historic Site Ltd, Treasurer of the Launceston Chamber of Commerce, Director of the Tasmanian Electronic Commerce Centre Pty Ltd, and most importantly, the mother of one son.

Where it all began…

Janine grew up on a small farm at Cressy in the North of Tasmania where she developed the work ethic that remains with her today. At high school she thought she might like to become a doctor but was talked out of it at the time by a counsellor who believed attempting medicine after coming from a country school would be a hard task despite Janine’s academic aptitude in maths and science subjects. At around 15 or 16 years of age, Janine had a friend who was going to study accounting. This sparked an interest in the subject in which she would excel during her final years of secondary schooling and university and became the catalyst for her future career.

First job…

In addition to providing ongoing help to her father on the family farm, a holiday secondment with the Tasmanian State Audit Department between her second and third years of study at university provided Janine’s entry point into the accounting profession.

After graduating…

Janine was offered two jobs with major accounting firms after graduating from UTAS as a self-described ‘average’ student. The opportunities arose out of knowing someone within the business who knew Janine was seeking work. She took the job offered by KPMG.  Due to her youthful appearance Janine was often mistaken for the office junior when clients came in the door. Her initial role with KPMG was working for primary producer clients and “doing basic things.”  At KPMG, Janine learnt everything from the ground up in a very methodical way which she believes has helped her enormously in her career.

To succeed in Accounting you need…

• Good organisation skills
• Attention to detail
• Confidence
• Perseverance
• Good work ethic
• Networks

What Janine looks for in a graduate…

• Aptitude
• Positive attitude
• Enthusiasm
• Demonstrated connectivity with the community (through voluntary work, etc.)
• Positive view of where they want to go in life
• Research of the organisation

• Cultural fit within the organisation
• Good quality degree
• Well set out and well-written resume
• High level communication skills (oral and written)
• At interview graduates need to concentrate on showing their articulation skills as they will be engaging with clients and communicating complex concepts to them in the simplest way they can
• Presentation – come dressed for business (even though the culture in the office may be quite different)

Janine’s career preparation…

• Focus (on what you want to achieve)
• Self-reflection
• Well-organised
• Hard work
• Build on skills acquired through social and professional interests
• Good communication

• Networking!!!!!!!!!!
• The importance of networking cannot be underestimated. Janine attributes her success in becoming a Director at Hydro Tasmania to her experiences in her early and late 20s when she became Treasurer of Karinya Young Women’s Shelter Inc. Her interest in the role at Karinya arose from contacts with social workers she knew from college. From her contacts at Karinya, Janine became Treasurer at Laurel House and from some of the contacts there this led to an appointment to the Tasmanian Women’s Consultative Council which then led to Janine meeting someone who put her name forward for Director of Female Factory Historic Site Limited. This is also where Janine met the Chairman of Hydro Tasmania and ultimately to her becoming a Director of that organisation. Janine’s directorships have culminated from a desire to assist the community and volunteer her time even as a teenager.

Career plan…

I did want to get a university degree, work, get my professional year, get my Institute of Chartered Accountants membership and then move on. In the middle of this I got married and went to work for KPMG in Melbourne for approximately 18 months. I then came back to Tasmania to a managerial role. At this time Janine decided to reflect on where she was at and what she wanted to achieve. Janine chose to combine the skills she had gained from the accounting profession with skills acquired from her community interests. This has enabled her to do a range of interesting things outside of accounting that emerged as a result of her accounting skills.

Career progression…

In her career as a Chartered Accountant, Janine has held a diverse portfolio of clients covering a wide range of services including taxation, financial, commercial and management issues.

Fifteen years after commencing her professional career at KPMG as a graduate accountant, Janine worked with Deloitte and continued her community involvement. Community service appointments began in her late teens when she co-founded the Ajana Netball Club. This was followed by a variety of roles spanning over twenty years as: Treasurer for Karinya Young Women’s Shelter; Treasurer for Laurel House; Member of the Nominating Committee for the review of applicants for the TAFE Council in Launceston; Member and President of Business and Professional Women’s Association of Launceston; Member of the Management Committee of the Student Association of the University of Tasmania (Launceston); member of University Council which included a term as Chair of the Finance, Audit and Investment Committees; External Professional Member of the Faculty of Business at the University of Tasmania; Director of Female Factory Historic Site Limited and Treasurer of the Launceston Chamber of Commerce.

Janine became a member of the David Boon Testimonial Committee for a year, an experience she found fascinating and quite outside her comfort zone. In the early 1990s, Janine was appointed to the Tasmanian Women’s Consultative Council by the Minister for the Status of Women. This was followed by an appointment to the WISE Advisory Council to oversee the implementation of Women Interested in Self Employment (WISE) groups throughout Tasmania. Contacts within the David Boon Testimonial Committee recommended Janine’s appointment to the Inveresk Railyards Management Authority in the late 1990s as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee. The Authority was given the task of remediating the Inveresk Railyard Zone which now includes the University of Tasmania’s School of Visual and Performing Arts, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery and the Launceston Tramsheds. In 2000, Janine was appointed Director of the former Port of Launceston Pty Ltd and then Director of Hydro Tasmania in 2002, a position she still holds. In 2006, Janine was appointed as Director of the Tasmanian Electronic Commerce Centre Pty Ltd, a joint venture between the State Government and the University of Tasmania. 

Janine’s career management strategy…

Janine has sought out and been lucky enough to have supportive employers throughout her career. This has allowed her to ‘spread her wings’ and incorporate new and exciting challenges into her professional life.

Career highlights include…

• Seeing clients needs fulfilled
• Problems solved
• Recognition by peers

Ingrid Apsitis
Faculty of Business
University of Tasmania
2007