Karen has 25 years local government experience in Queensland and NSW, working in a variety of roles from Administration, Finance and Governance. Karen has a Bachelor of Commerce degree and has also studied to become a Certified Practising Accountant, a Masters of Business Administration and is currently studying the Graduate Certificate in Internal Auditing. After a brief step into the private world as a Local Government Accounting Consulting for Practical Computers (that was later acquired by Civica), Karen was Finance Manager at Barraba Shire Council on amalgamation with 4 other Councils in 2004, and commenced the discovery into Governance and Audit and Risk Committees. Karen was Governance Manager at Tamworth Regional Council for 8 years until transferred into her current role of Internal Auditor role in 2020.