Being the ‘good’ Anglican that I am, it came as a surprise to find myself working for the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn as Property/Facilities Manager.

It is different to my last two titles; Inspector of Police at Victoria Police and Operations Manager at the Air Warfare Destroyer Program. How did I end up here? And what do I do?

I moved to Canberra to follow my wife and her work. Sometimes it creates envy when my colleagues look down from the office onto the Marian Courtyard where they see me cooking a barbecue while having a beer.

My job is so different to what I used to do. I am now a cook, cleaner and bottle washer. But in reality that is not my job, I just choose to do that on top of my real work. I look after four properties for the Catholic Archdiocese ensuring people can do their work (or live) in a safe environment. I administer contracts, liaise with contractors and staff and am a general handyman, gardener and jack of all trades.

My favorite part of my work though, is definitely looking after the Marian Apartments and the people who live there. The residents have become my friends and sometimes I find it hard to do my work as they all love to talk – as I do! I also love the freedom of my work. I am afforded a great level of autonomy and for the first time in many years, I no longer supervise staff. Now that is what I call job satisfaction!

I tell my friends that I look after the oldies. I don’t tell them that four of the residents are younger than me … You only have to be 55 after all.