Media and Communications Officer

Lucy Kippist

At only 22 Rachel Pater has landed a dream job and bought her first house. She just had to move from Adelaide to Alice Springs to do it. 

“The weather is great. Even when it’s cold the sun shines and I look forward to going to work. I really love it here,” she said. 

Ms Pater was studying in Adelaide and living with her parents when she applied for the role of Alice Springs Town Council Media and Communications Officer. 

She landed the job and says had she stayed in Adelaide she may have waited years for the same level of responsibility, challenge and training that the Alice Springs move has delivered. 

“It’s the reverse urban drift. Employment opportunities are really good [in Alice Springs] … it’s easier than it would be in Adelaide to get a job like this and there is less competition,” she says. 

Ms Pater works directly with the town’s Mayor, Damien Ryan, and council CEO Rex Mooney. 

“I love how varied my job can be. I might be running a press conference, writing media releases and speeches for the Mayor or designing flyers and brochures about local events,” she says. 

“Sometimes I can spend an entire day taking photographs or on other days I can be sitting at my desk putting together advertising material. 

“Local government really is its own world. There is a lot of political jargon and community knowledge and decisions that have to be explained to me as we go along. 

“At 22 you really can’t be expected to know the ins and outs of your local council. Luckily our CEO has always been there to help me out,” she says. 

Ms Pater also loves the Alice Springs lifestyle and the fact that she was able to buy her first home “within two weeks” of arriving in town.  She has also ditched her car and rides the 3 kilometres from home to work on a bicycle. 

Her spare time is spent playing volleyball at the indoor beach, which was made from red dirt, and going to the town’s many cultural events. 

“I think a lot of people still picture Alice as a small town with a big famous rock nearby, they don’t realise the variety of people living here permanently. 

“The cultural diversity is huge from Americans, Aboriginals, Aussies, Germans, South Africans and that’s just in the Civic Centre where I work.

 “And the population is active because of the weather and facilities available. Every weekend there is something to do, whether it’s theatre or an art gallery or exhibition,” she said. 

“When I first told my friends their first reaction was – ‘but that’s so far away!’ Mostly they knew it was an excellent opportunity career wise but were worried about what was up here. Were there shops, nightclubs, sports, other people to be friends with? 

“As it turns out there are all of those things plus others, like wide open space, no traffic, and lots of extra time. 

“I like the family feel of it, nothing in Alice is impersonal. If the person you’re talking to can’t help, then they’ll know someone who can, or give you a name or place to try, or will go with you to find out themselves,” she said. 

Looking to the future Ms Pater says her plans are ‘flexible’ but that she would look to stay two to five years. 

“I have spoken to many, many people who came for six months, a year, two years and are still here 17 years later,” she says.