Ranger – NSW Park

Aimee Brown

Brian Page boasts the biggest backyard in Sydney and he doesn’t mind sharing it. He says on some Sundays, up to 20,000 people will gather in his 189ha domain — Centennial Park.

Page is a park ranger with the NSW Government and he lives on site at the eastern suburbs park. His home is the Victorian-style Superintendent’s Residence tucked beside the park’s Paddington gates, and his family’s playground is the area contained inside the historic sandstone and iron walls.

Page and his family have lived there for 10 years. He admits it is quite a buzz knowing his is the only house on the expansive hive of flora, fauna and human activity. But he says it is also a practical placement for him.

In his role as a Centennial Parklands ranger, he oversees more than 360ha of land, which includes Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queens Park. With so much space to maintain, it is understandable that one of the biggest issues for Page and his fellow rangers is park safety.

“We have a safety program and we work to find strategies to make the park safe for everyone. This is no easy task when you think you’ve got the rollerbladers, bike riders, people walking dogs, riding horses and so on,” he says.

“The biggest issues would be people in their cars speeding and dogs off leash where they are not supposed to be.” Page works closely with other officials and environmental monitoring groups to ensure the smooth and healthy running of the Parklands.

“Two of us look after regulation and environmental issues. We also have an environmental officer who we work closely with. We get The University of New South Wales sending people out to do water testing and fauna observations and we are always working with them.”

Page’s work is at the mercy of nature. Storms and heavy rains can wreak havoc on the park wildlife. “There are things we deal with most people wouldn’t think about,” he says. “When we had the big hail storm, lots of birds were killed by the stones, and we had to pick all of them up. We also deal with animals and people who have been injured in the park.”

It is this unpredictability Page enjoys most about being a park ranger. “You never know what you’ll be doing next. It’s so diverse,” he says. Page didn’t have any formal qualifications when he became a casual ranger with Centennial Parklands 12 years ago, but he had spent 10 years working as a bush-walking guide in Tasmania.

He says the most important element you can bring to a job such as his is passion. “You have to love people and animals because that’s what the park’s all about,” he says.

How to be a … park ranger
You can be a park ranger without formal qualifications, but experience or a degree in a relevant field is an advantage. More information, NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, 1300 361 967 or environment.nsw.gov.au