For Emma Turaganivalu, the unexpected opportunity to lead a digital technology and call centre is a dream come true.
"This was never on my radar but then it happened," said the Wakka Wakka woman who heads up the Cherbourg Digital Technology Centre in the Queensland Aboriginal community.
The centre opened 12 months ago as a partnership between the local council, the state government, and other groups.
Ms Turaganivalu, who has connections to traditional owners in Winton in western Queensland and in New South Wales, says it is important to be able to work on country.
"I was one the first 10 [employees] … I had the honour and privilege to be the first person to take a live phone call," Ms Turaganivalu said.
In its first year, the call centre had a contract with the IT company Fujitsu, which has used it as a technology service desk for Australia Post.
Employees help Australia Post staff with requests such as password resets.
Ms Turaganivalu says her previous role as an Indigenous teacher aide at Murgon State High School had given her the skills to "manage and recognise areas where there needs to be extra support" for staff in the centre.
"For instance, we don't speak standard Australian English," the 37-year-old said.
"We have our dialect, because many tribes come from many places to Cherbourg, and form their own dialect.
"It's key for people to understand that all Indigenous people — especially if you live in communities — have their own different dialects."
Fujitsu Asia Pacific operates call centres across the country but the Cherbourg project was its first outsourced centre.
CEO Graeme Beardsell says it is one of the top-performing call centres in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of user satisfaction.
"[The staff have] jumped in and totally immersed themselves, and they love it," Mr Beardsell said.
"And that comes through in their interactions with customers."
'The beauty of digital'
Duncan Kerslake, program manager of the Queensland government's Advance Queensland Deadly Innovation Strategy, which is a partner of the Cherbourg centre, said it was about digital transformation in First Nations communities.
"We have a whole range of different jobs here, all based on digital technology," he said.
"Some of them are call-centre-type roles, but also … people are looking at things like new programs coming out and checking the functionality of them and testing them."
Mr Kerslake says the initial 10 employees at the centre had grown to 30 due to a new partnership with Queensland government building company QBuild.
"A lot of these jobs were previously done offshore and now those jobs are coming back onshore, and people are sort of going, 'OK, well, we need a workforce,'" he said.
"This is the beauty of digital. It means you can actually stay in your community."
Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor Elvie Sandow says the new contract with QBuild, to provide call centre support for social housing maintenance requests, has employed 10 young mums.
"I'm very happy to see that because they can provide for their families," Cr Sandow said.
"It'll mainly be for house maintenance and repairs."
She says any Cherbourg residents who get through to the call line will speak to someone with a "better understanding" of the local issues.
"It's good to have someone on the other end of the phone who really understands," Cr Sandow said.
Ms Turaganivalu hopes the centre will continue to grow.
"I'm just so honoured to be a part of this team because it's something so new, and to see it grow to where it is, I'm just blown away by everything," she said.
