Community House gets New boss

•  New Dorset Community House manager Naomi Buster accepts some gift cards from Joanne Kerr – the proceeds of a recent fundraising dance night to bolster the emergency food relief store at the house. 

By Tony Scott,
November 03, 2021

The Dorset Community House has welcomed its new manager, replacing Jen Baron who left the position last month.

The Master of Community Development graduate Naomi Buster moved to Derby early this year, fell in love with the community and with husband and two young children settled into the house they could find to buy.

She said the mountain bike trails were an attraction for her husband, but they both enjoy the natural surrounds generally.

“We were thinking of a rural move, but didn’t think it would be to Tasmania until we came for a temporary stay.

“The Covid lockdowns in Victoria also helped us decide.”

Ms Buster has worked in community development in multicultural communities around Australia, Africa and Vietnam.

Most recently she was team leader for Youth Engagements and Partnerships at Moonee Valley City Council in Melbourne.

During maternity leave caring for her now one year old daughter and three year old son she decided to give up that post to make Derby home.

She has also been working as a teacher at Winnaleah District High School and for the past couple of months as chaplain at Scottsdale High School.

Her city job involved interactions with thousands of young people.

“The scale of things in Dorset means there are many differences but many of the challenges for people are similar,” she said.

The Community House role will be three days a week and she settled into the job only this week.