Troy McDonald
Gunai Kurnai Gunditjmara Man
Corporal (retired)
4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Regiment
Royal Australian Armoured Corps
Australian Army
Medals and Awards
Australian Operational Service Medal – Border Protection
Defence Long Service Medal with 1st clasp
Australian Defence Medal
I first enlisted in 1980, serving until 1994, and then re-enlisted from 2001 to 2015. Throughout my service, I was privileged to learn from exceptional instructors and leaders who instilled a can-do mindset and reinforced the importance of discipline and hard work. The training and experience I gained, especially as a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO), honed my skills in strategy, planning, and leadership.
My military career spanned nearly 30 years, with two distinct periods of service in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps as a reservist with the 4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Regiment. My service, including full-time contracts and operational deployment in 2014, has profoundly shaped my civilian career and personal life. These military skills were seamlessly translated into my civilian role within the Victorian Public Service, 2001-2022. The strategic thinking and disciplined approach I developed in the army were instrumental in my contributions as a public servant and social justice advocate and vice versa. My ability to manage complex negotiations and difficult conversations became crucial in driving change and implementing reforms across multiple portfolios in Health, Human Services, Emergency Recovery, Alcohol and Drug Reform.
In 2001, I was honoured with the inaugural Regional Aboriginal Justice award for Gippsland, which I shared with Magistrate, Edwin Batt. This award, presented by the then Victorian Attorney General, Robert Hulls, recognised my efforts in advancing social justice reform opportunities for Aboriginal communities in Gippsland. In 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded me the Diversity and Inclusion and Excellence award, acknowledging my contributions to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. I was invited back twice to talk to the inspiring young Aboriginal men by the Local Aboriginal Education network in the early 2010s to discuss leadership and how to apply potential within a complex environment where industry reform was reshaping the Latrobe Valley.
My work with the Aboriginal community of Victoria, particularly in areas such as water reform and service planning, benefited immensely from my military training. The negotiation skills and resilience I developed in the army were vital in navigating the complexities of these roles. I was nominated by my Traditional Owner group to represent the Guna Kurnai in the Victorian treaty movement, a role that highlighted my ability to lead and advocate effectively. However, it is the Aboriginal Water Reform actions in the Department of Environment Land and Water (DELWP) that I’m most proud of, and which I could not have achieved without the support of my colleague at the time, Catherine Lewis. This was an effective initiative from 2016-2018, the legacies of which are still being realised in 2024.
One of the most impactful experiences of my military career was during the Black Saturday Fires, where I was deployed to support forensic search and rescue operations across Traralgon South, Callignee, Flowerdale and Kinglake. This experience underscored the importance of community and the need for effective support systems in times of crisis. It reinforced my commitment to public service and to learn how to best support and inform community resilience as well as command and provide leadership to people in a complex and traumatic environment (Operation Vic Fire Assist). This experience also allowed me to take on a coordination role during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Victoria when a significant number of cases and outbreaks occurred in high-risk accommodation settings characterised by shared common spaces and high-density living. In response, dedicated emergency management operations were established to support risk mitigation and outbreak response. One of my roles was to check in with at-risk residents who were locked up in accommodation. In some cases, the level of acuity from COVID was not good, and my coordination and support role in this effort was undoubtedly informed by my military experience, which also assisted my interface with HRAR (High Risk Accommodation Response).
Deployment on Operation Resolute gave me a deeper understanding of the complexities behind border security. I gained firsthand knowledge of the challenges associated with piracy, human trafficking, and the geopolitical considerations that affect many lives, including those here in Australia. This experience broadened my perspective and enhanced my ability to address multifaceted issues in my civilian roles, especially when discussing and listening to the diversity of views around such matters, which arose in the many conversations I have been part of.
During a military trip to Israel/Palestine in 2008, I witnessed firsthand the profound impact of ideological differences and the lack of political representation when there are dominant cultural perspectives, especially as to how people treat one another. This experience highlighted the importance of advocacy for the voiceless through platforms that promote civil association and inclusion. My observations deeply influenced my perspective on Palestinians and their rights, emphasising the need for effective representation in a country where they were deserving of a voice. I see there is alignment with the Victorian Treaty movement and the Traditional Owner movements here in Victoria while acknowledging there are vastly different considerations.
In my role as a regional planner in the Emergency Management Recovery Portfolio in the Department of Health and Human Services (DFFH) and later as a Director in Emergency Recovery (ERV) Victoria, I played a crucial role in planning and coordination across major events such as The Great Divide Fires, the 2022 Victorian floods, and the 2008 Gippsland Flood event. These experiences enabled my team to become more insightful about the human and natural environment impacts, allowing us to align our efforts to best suit community outcomes.
Balancing two careers—one in the public service and the other in a mechanised cavalry unit—may seem unconventional, but both paths enriched my life and provided clarity of purpose. As a survivor of child Institutional sexual abuse and being cruelly voted by my schoolmates as the student most likely to end up in Pentridge Gaol, I left school at 15 with limited education abilities hoping to find work. It was during this early phase of my life that I learned pretty dam quickly that I had to work as twice as hard to be considered half as good. My success would not have been possible without the support of my wife, Sonya, and my children, Rene, Kayle and Monica and the many people who believed in me throughout my journey. The discipline, leadership, and resilience I gained from my military career and the training that accompanied it have been invaluable skills-based assets, driving me to achieve meaningful change in both my professional and personal life.
In closing, I could not have achieved anything without collaboration, teamwork, and understanding individual differences in how we get the job done, thanks to everyone who has supported me. I give a big shout-out to Beryl Booth (Mum) for ‘always trying to keep me grounded’ and to my dad, Noel McDonald. I am also indebted to many other people, including family, ADF and professional colleagues, and the judiciary, who have given me a fair go on this journey.