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In the early '80s she joined
mining giant Alcoa of Australia as the community co-ordinator at
the Wagerup alumina refinery in Western Australia and soon moved
to the company's environmental department as its policy and
liaison officer. It was from Alcoa that Ms Verschuer was invited
to become the principle policy advisor to the WA Environment
Minister under the Bourke government. From the Minister's office
she joined the Premier's department and was admitted into the WA
government's Senior Executive Service as its youngest female
officer.
In the late '80s Western
Australia was racked with controversy between developers and
communities and Ms Verschuer was asked to investigate and
establish Australia's first Social Impact Unit
(SIU) to address the
social consequences of resource development. The SIU was
established in 1989 under her guidance and she headed the Unit
until 1992 when she left the government.
Ms Verschuer joined Dymocks in
the mid '90s and was appointed to the Dymocks
Board in 2001. She
takes a special interest in Dymocks farming operations and the
Dymocks Literacy Foundation. |