Griffith University graduates Georgina Wind and Zarah Kerley will start their careers fighting money laundering and terrorism financing.
The students, who completed a Bachelor of International Relations in 2007, have been offered graduate positions with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), based in Sydney.
This is the first year AUSTRAC, Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator and specialist financial intelligence unit, is offering the national graduate program.
Zarah said she was really excited about being selected.
“I had always wanted to enter a government graduate program after completing my degree. The AUSTRAC program is new, relevant to my area of study and a bit different, so it will be a great start to my career,” Zarah said.
Placed in the International Relations section of AUSTRAC, Zarah will work as an Assistant Policy Officer and Georgina will be based in the International Technical Assistance and Training Unit.
“The ability to cooperate and share information with international counterparts has become increasingly important to AUSTRAC,” Zarah said.
“Many of the business, politics, and counter-terrorism and crime courses we studied at Griffith are very relevant to the roles within AUSTRAC, and have provided us with a solid foundation from which to start our careers.”
Both Zarah and Georgina majored in Asian Pacific studies as part of their degree, while Georgina’s second major was in European and International Affairs.
In addition to undertaking a second major Georgina also participated in a Griffith exchange program, spending six months studying at one of Griffith’s partner universities, the University of Toronto.
“Studying at the University of Toronto exposed me to new thinking about world politics,” Georgina said.
“AUSTRAC is involved in a lot of work overseas, helping set up similar units in South East Asia. We’ll be liaising with different government departments, both overseas and within Australia. I’m really excited about the position and can’t wait to start,” Georgina said.
Zarah and Georgina start on January 29 in Sydney.
About AUSTRAC
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) fights global crime by protecting the integrity of the Australian financial system. AUSTRAC is a world-renowned and respected financial intelligence unit (FIU) and is Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regulator.