Tahlia Biggs was born in Albury, has lived mostly in Wodonga, and her family is from Barkindji and Ngiyampaa country – or variously from the towns of Wilcannia and Cobar in western New South Wales. She’s previously worked in Melbourne with Richmond Football Club as a program coordinator for the Korin Gamadji Institute’s (KGI) REAL Program.
At the start of this year, Tahlia moved to the Northern Territory to lead the Y (Previously the YMCA) Youth Parliament program. Tahlia is also a budding actor was the star in the powerful one-woman performance of ‘The 7 Stages of Grieving’ directed by Jada Alberts, produced by Brown’s Mart Theatre in Darwin earlier this year.
Read on for our fascinating change maker interview with Tahlia!
Describe your career trajectory and how you got to your current position.
I’ve worked a range of jobs throughout my career so far, from being a Program Coordinator on the Korin Gamadji Institute’s (KGI) REAL Program, to working at local government as a Aboriginal Community Development Co-ordinator for Wodonga City Council, and most recently, as the Youth Parliament Programs Coordinator for the Y Northern Territory.
So far, I’ve been very fortunate and a lot of it has been luck! A lot of my career choices have been people reaching out to me and offering opportunities that I’ve been able to take up. As a young black person, I’ve been told that if an opportunity pops up, you should take it, so that’s what I’ve done.
What does this role mean to you?
I see my current role with the Y as an opportunity to lay a foundation for a strong program that unites young Territorians to understand how to use their voices, and how to have their voices heard for a long time.
Take us through a typical day of work for you.
Usually starting at 9am, following a daycare drop off, I start my work day by sharing any weird dreams I’ve had the night earlier with my colleague, Kergen. We then go through the long list of things to do for the day, divide and work through it all.
Most days that list includes things like calling schools, talking to young people about what they’re interested in, meeting with stakeholders and funders then going home and getting ready to do it all again the next day.
If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?
It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be done. I think when I first started out, I focused to much on everything I did being perfect, and I don’t think like that anymore.
How do you stay motivated to work in this field?
What keeps me motivated is knowing that in the work I do, I have the ability to create an opportunity for young people that is a key milestone for them. For so many young people, especially in the Territory, participating in a program such as Youth Parliament is a core moment in their journey to finding a voice.
How do you unwind after work?
Scrolling through Tik Toks of course! Otherwise, when I’m not caring for a toddler, I’m slowly getting used to live in the NT (I moved up at the start of this year) and working on my upcoming theatre productions, usually focused on themes of decolonisation and First Nations resistance.
