Ms Sue Costello
Sue is passionate about the role of education in enabling all Tasmanians to improve their economic and social participation. For five years, she led the state’s implementation of 26TEN’s strategy to improving the adult literacy and numeracy levels of all Tasmanians. Based on business, community and people working together on a common agenda, Sue drove a collective place-based approach to improving adult literacy skills. Foundational to this work is Sue’s firsthand management experience of the role libraries can play in servicing the information and learning needs of Tasmanians in the Huon Valley.
Sue’s public and private sector experience shows a passion for social policy change.
Across a range of federal government departments including Prime Minister and Cabinet and Family and Community Services, Sue worked on retirement incomes policy, youth homelessness, developing a national youth servicing strategy, income support and status of women issues. Working in Parliament House also gave her first-hand experience into federal politics and the machinery of government at the highest level. In Victoria, she led a major business redesign project across Centrelink offices to improve business efficiency.
A career change saw Sue retrain as a teacher. With qualifications in economics, adolescent counselling, education and career development, her purpose was to help young people to have a full and happy life. This led to managing Youth Services for a large not for profit organisation, servicing disadvantaged young people across outer east Victoria.
Now living in Northwest Tasmania, Sue’s journey has also involved a range of executive, secretariat or board roles that support servicing people within her local community. She has also presented at state, national, and international conferences advocating for improved educational outcomes for adults and young people.