Employer: Kirana Training

When Melissa Dinn began her career in nursing she felt naturally drawn to areas such as rehabilitation, aged care and disability.

After gaining senior positions as a health educator at a dementia specific care faculty and as the National Dementia Care Coordinator for a large residential nursing home in Canberra, Melissa realised her ultimate career goal was to remain in aged care, focus on dementia and palliative care, and teach.

After nine years out of the workforce to focus on family life, and the completion of an education degree, Melissa began working at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) in various roles including CIT’s Aged Care Coordinator and as an Advanced Skills Teacher.

In 2014, Melissa became the first permanent Aged Care and Disability VET Educator at private registered training organisation, Kirana Training. At Kirana, she teaches across various subjects such as aged care, disability and community services.

Melissa has a Master of Education and is now studying a Master of Gerontology at Charles Sturt University and she regularly speaks at professional industry events. She is also a teacher for two subjects at the Charles Sturt University in the Bachelor of Education (Adult and Vocational Education).