About Us | Working Spirit - Australian Veteran Employment

Introducing Working Spirit

Working Spirit was launched in November 2016 by its founder Karyn Hinder.

Karyn started Working Spirit while she was still serving in the military and is still employed part-time as an Air Force Reservist.

Serving over 27 years in the military, Karyn commenced her career as a Soldier in the Australian Army in 1993 and transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in 2005.

The idea for Working Spirit was born after a very close friend and a colleague of Karyn’s, whom she had the privilege of serving with, was going through tough times, whilst also having to deal with the stresses of finding meaningful employment and adjusting back to mainstream life outside of the ADF.

As an experienced recruiter, Karyn wanted to help her friend and other veterans facing similar issues. Drawing from her experience, Karyn has been able to connect and place nearly 150 skilled veterans with companies looking for trustworthy and hardworking individuals to fill vital vacancies.

Working Spirit’s goal is to raise awareness of veteran employability to businesses both in the Public and Private Sector whilst highlighting the workforce potential of these military veterans. Working Spirit wants businesses to “capture the talent” that comes from their military service and get our veterans hired. Veterans have many intangible skills that they can bring to the table, over and above any technical skills.

Meet the Working Spirit Team

Karyn Hinder

Founder

Karyn Hinder

Founder

RAAF and Army Veteran,
current active RAAF Reservist

My name is Karyn Hinder and I am a military veteran with service in the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force. This year I have served 27 years with 12 of those also in the Australian Army. I commenced my career as a Soldier in the Australian Army. I have had the pleasure of working with exceptional male and female leaders, whilst also experiencing extreme situations.
Over the journey I have learned many things from my service both here and abroad. Something I am extremely passionate about is the difficulty for serving men and women to adjust back into society. What is even more distressing is the flow on effect of injury, anxiety, stress, depression and other major symptoms and diagnoses, which lead to difficulty in gaining employment, confidence and hope.
To give you a little insight in my business ‘Working Spirit’ is a non-for profit based business. The charity was born after a very close friend and a colleague of mine whom I have had the privilege of serving with, has been going through tough times experiencing the above mentioned symptoms, whilst dealing with the stresses of finding meaningful employment and adjusting back to mainstream life. The other side of the business will be gaining employment for Military spouses and partners as our posting cycle is every three years.
Working Spirit’s goals and objectives is to raise awareness of veteran employability to businesses both in the Public and Private Sector in Australia whilst highlighting the workforce potential of military spouses/partners. In addition, I will also be creating a work experience program for transitioning service members.

Phone:0409 527 967
Email:karynhinder@workingspirit.com.au

Roy Mellon

Ambassador

Roy Mellon

Ambassador

Army Veteran RAAC
Chief Executive of Definitiv Group

Roy is the Founder and Chief Executive of the Definitiv Group. The payroll and HR software company now services 230 companies, supports 30,000 users and processes $2 billion in transactions annually. Before starting Definitiv, Roy was the Managing Director of the Asia-Pacific region for a global payroll company and throughout his career has won two Business News 40under40 awards.

Prior to his business career, Roy was a soldier in the 3rd/4th Cavalry Regiment at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville, where he drove M113 armoured personnel carriers. Unfortunately, after a sustaining an injury that left him with osteoarthritis in both feet, Roy was medically discharged from the Army.

As a retired veteran himself, he knows first-hand the difficulties veterans face when transitioning from military life. Therefore, Roy works closely with a number of veteran-focused organisations, including; Working Spirit and the General Sir Harry Chauvel Foundation. As an ambassador for Working Spirit, Roy is advocating on the behalf of veterans seeking employment and encourages more Australian companies to consider hiring our highly skilled ex-service personnel.

Helen Burgess

Office Admin / IT Support

Helen Burgess

Office Admin / IT Support

RAAF Veteran, Communications Information System Specialist
Founder GraphitEdge, Technology Developer.

I am a Front of the Front End Developer, Mentor and teacher who is an accomplished veteran of the Royal Australian Air Force and the web. I have been involved in technology and Web Development for over 30 years and cares deeply about sharing my experience through mentoring and teaching.
I joined the RAAF in June 1984, qualifying in early 1985 as a Communications Operator. My first unit was in Sydney where I met and married my Husband. I also had our first child there and returned to work when he was 3 months old.
I had my second child in the service as well. Being both a member of the Defence as well as a mum was tough at times, and although I would not change anything of my 16 years it was challenging at times.
I sustained an injury in 1998 and of my own volition discharged in 2000.
I am passionate about web standards, accessibility and semantic HTML which I have promoted in my position at Codemaster Institute as Curriculum Specialist and through my freelance work. As the Chairperson of the Australian Web Awards for many years, my goal was to spread the word of web standards, accessibility and good practices in designing and developing the web.
I was heavily involved in developing and growing the Perth Tech community in it's early days through Port80 as well as the Australian Web Industry Association and has stayed connected as it has grown and developed being a member of several meet-up groups including Fenders as well as Ex-Service Organisations like the RSL and WRAAF Association.
I am passionate about service members having a better transition than my own in 2000, which was not the best and on par with anyone who left the services then. Whilst I have maintained this website and other Ex-Service websites as one means of doing this, I joined Karyn as her first staff member in Oct 2021 to help Veterans find meaningful employment and a good transition after serving our country.

Email:helenb@workingspirit.org

Craig Zubrinich

Employment Mentor

Craig Zubrinich

Employment Mentor

RAAF Veteran,
JP(Qualified) MAHRI Human Resources Specialist currently at People & Culture Partner Surf Life Saving Queensland

A proud Royal Australian Air Force Veteran, spent 7 years in service as a Chef. After thoroughly enjoying my military career; which I was extremely fortunate to deploy with Working Spirit Founder Karyn, I decided it was time to find a new passion and with that I started the process to discharge.

Even though I discharged through my own actions, it was still an incredibly difficult time trying to adjust to civilian life after 7 years in the RAAF. After successfully finding employment in the civilian sector, it was only then I discovered the career passion I had longed for which was Human Resources.

Starting from entry level HR positions, my career has taken me to new opportunities which have included Global Operations; Operations, Administration & HR Manager to where I am now: Surf Life Saving Queensland as People and Culture Partner.

Human Resources has become an absolute passion of mine, and love being able to give back to the Veteran community through doing something in which I am passionate about.

I work with Karyn and the Working Spirit team in order to provide services to transitioning and Veteran service personnel and help them understand their potential which future employers can utilise.

Email:craig@workingspirit.com.au

Gary Brown

Employment Mentor

Gary Brown

Employment Mentor

Army Veteran

Gary is a regular Army veteran having successfully transitioned from a career in the ADF into the corporate world. Gary’s experience includes several roles in a variety of industries including: Defence, Recruiting, Oil & Gas, Hospitality, Consulting, T&D, Logistics and Veterans Support.
Gary’s speciality is Human Resources and Recruiting having held senior roles with a global recruiting organisation. Therefore, Gary is exceptionally well placed to provide contemporary advice and support to veterans including but not restricted to: job search strategies, job application & submission, interview & presentation techniques, follow up & negotiation.

Email:helenb@workingspirit.org

Sandra Seman-Bourke

Employment Mentor

Sandra Seman-Bourke

Employment Mentor

Army Reserve Public Affairs Officer, Journalist, Broadcaster, Sessional Academic, communications specialist
She is passionate about volunteering with Working Spirit. With Sandra’s extensive background in media and communications, she has been instrumental in assisting our veterans with resume assistance, job preparation and interview skills.

Email:sandra@workingspirit.org

Interested in becoming a Volunteer

Work with a dedicated team to help veterans transition from a Military working life to a Civilian working life.

Volunteer Here

Want to Capture the Talent

Interested in becoming a client of or partner with Working Spirit to provide opportunities for veterans and transitioning members

Apply Here

Introducing Working Spirit

Meet the Working Spirit Team

Karyn Hinder

Roy Mellon

Helen Burgess

Craig Zubrinich

Gary Brown

Sandra Seman-Bourke

Interested in becoming a Volunteer

Want to Capture the Talent

Our Current Clients and Partners

Our Veteran Focused Events

Meet &
Greets

Business
Breakfasts

Military to Civilian
Career Summits

Awards and Accolades

Follow Us

Contact Details

Company Details

Introducing Working Spirit

Meet the Working Spirit Team

Karyn Hinder

Roy Mellon

Helen Burgess

Craig Zubrinich

Gary Brown

Sandra Seman-Bourke

Interested in becoming a Volunteer

Want to Capture the Talent

Our Current Clients and Partners

Our Veteran Focused Events

Meet & Greets

Business Breakfasts

Military to Civilian Career Summits

Awards and Accolades

Follow Us

Contact Details

Company Details

Meet &
Greets

Business
Breakfasts

Military to Civilian
Career Summits