Cameron Del Moro

It was while working as a garbage man five years ago that Cameron del Moro realised he wanted to see a difference in the world—and it was up to him to make it.

“I used to see all the contamination of recyclables, and all the things that shouldn’t be in bins going into bins when they could be recycled, and that really annoyed me,” the 29-year-old Griffith graduate explains. “I tried educating people, but unfortunately no one really listens to a garbage man.

“I knew I had to change my career in order to have an impact on this issue.”

After a trip overseas, through which Cameron experienced a diversity of international waste systems, good and bad, the decision to be the change he wanted to see in Australia was solidified.

Wanting to study on the Gold Coast, Cameron was delighted—if somewhat apprehensive—when, at age 27, he completed a bridging course to be accepted into Griffith’s Bachelor of Education, majoring in Environmental Management and Urban Environments.

“It was daunting being a mature-age student, but there were others in their mid-twenties,” he says, noting the support of his classmates was a crucial element in his success.

“During my degree, I took advantage of the Peer-Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) classes, which definitely helped me to pass a few courses that I might have otherwise failed,” he laughs.

Since graduating, Cameron has worked for both the Brisbane and Gold Coast city councils in positions directly related to his degree and interests.

Supported through a Griffith-sponsored Disability Action at Work (DAW) program, he initially secured a six-month role as a Field Officer in waste collections in Brisbane, looking after bin infrastructure for the city’s south, as well as looking after waste contractors.

“I originally went for Natural Environment Officer, and that was good to get a foot in the door,” Cameron says. “But then a contract came up for waste, so I took that!”

Now working as a Technical Officer—Waste at the Gold Coast City Council, Cameron is content knowing he is working to make a material difference to his community, but—possessed of the same ambition and drive that carried him through his degree—he still has his eyes on bigger things yet to come.

“In the future, I’d like to work in resource recovery and sustainability,” he says. “There’s a lot of that sort of work happening at the moment, particularly in the private sector, with companies wanting to show corporate social responsibility.”

This sense of motivation and engagement was evident even while Cameron was completing his degree—particularly to his urban ecology biodiversity lecturer, Dr Clare Morrison, who he also credits with helping set him on his career path by helping him secure his initial work-integrated learning placement with the Gold Coast City Council as a student.

“I found that, at Griffith, if you show you’re doing the work, they’ll propel you to where you want to go,” he says.