I came to live in Wollongong/ Woolyungah in 2011 with my partner and two children.

I work part-time and casually at Western Sydney University, providing mathematics/statistics support to students or doing research project work. By training, I’m a scientist, but I am now also a part-time TAFE visual-arts student, and I’m thoroughly loving trying to make art.

As someone who moved with young children several times before arriving here, I understand the difference that footpaths, libraries, parks, and good public transport can make to city living.

Life has been difficult and uncertain over recent times with COVID, extreme weather events, lack of affordable housing and rising living costs. It seems like many of us feel exhausted, as if we have lost time, health or work, and maybe worse, family or friends, through the COVID pandemic.

Over the past few years, extreme weather events (Black Summer 2019/2020 bushfires, numerous floods, heatwaves) have battered Australia. Now with inflation, many Wollongong citizens are struggling with housing affordability and the cost of living crisis.

Right now I believe we can continue to work to limit the heating of our city from climate change, and at the same time we can develop resilience and our ability to keep our villages safer, shadier, and easier to access.

I look forward to hearing from you and talking with you over the next seven months.

If you want to chat with Deidre, send an email.