Name

Jeff Fitzpatrick

Place of Birth

Primary Schools

Secondary Schools

St Josephs College Nudgee, Nudgee
St Josephs College, Gregory Terrace - Completed Senior Certificate

Commonwealth Accommodation and Catering Services / Food Services Dept, Australian Government.

My first job. The role involved co-ordinating the activities and general operations of the Australian Government cafeterias. We had venues in all the major government buildings as well as the Wacol migrant centre, AIMS in Townsville and the Brisbane domestic and international airports. I travelled between the sites performing stock control and staff administration duties. The job became redundant when the Fraser Government and his famous "Razor Gang" abolished the department and all the operations were leased to private enterprise.

Lion Breweries (New Zealand) - Hotels Division.

I was lucky enough to be employed sight unseen by Lion Breweries as a Trainee Manager in their Hotels Division. They gave me a 6 month appraisal period, for both sides to see if they liked me and if I liked them, and I started at the Great Northern Hotel in Auckland as Head Cellarman. After this time I went on to complete the Hotels training schedule in a variety of operations, cities and different management styles. The philosophy of the company was that a Hotel Manager could not possibly ask a staff member to perform a duty that they had not done, so the training encompassed all facets of a hotel operations - I stiil hold to this philosophy today. I completed the training and passed the Polytechnic examinations and was appointed as Junior Assistant Manager, Assistant Manager, Executive Assistant Manager and then Manager of various Lion properties. I also acted as a Relief Manager on occasions.

When I achieved what I wanted to achieve, that is my Managers License - you have to be licensed in New Zealand to run a hotel, I'm assuming you still do - I returned home to Brisbane on Christmas Day 1982.

Sometimes I feel it was the greatest mistake I ever made. I left something very important behind.

Kooralbyn Hotel Resort

On my return from New Zealand, I joined Kooralbyn Hotel Resort as a duty manager and then as a Conference Co-Ordinator for the Resort. It involved staff rostering, stocktaking, planning and organising all the equipment needed to run a conference centre.

Due to my interest in the equipment side of things, and our distance from our equipment suppliers, I taught myself how to setup and operate the Audio Visual equipment for our conference centre. This in turn lead to my being offered a job with Intercity Hire as a technician doing these tasks.

Intercity Hire

What a great job. I was a technician in the Gold Coast office and worked on many fantastic conferences, concerts and shows that required specialised audio and visual setups. Noteworthy experiences were Expo 88, John Farnham and the Whispering Jack tour, The Ultimate Event working with Frank Sinatra, Peter Allen and James Morrison at the opening of Sanctuary Cove Resort and the launch of the new Holden Barina.

Unfortunately, I owned a house at Kooralbyn and though the job was great, the daily commute got to me. Some days I would have to be on site at 5am to get a presentation setup completed on time and then tear it down at 9pm. Go figure - I went back to The Kooralbyn Resort.

The Kooralbyn Hotel Resort

I went back to the The Kooralbyn Resort again as a Duty Manager and sometime Night Auditor while the company was building the Kooralbyn Hotel which was opened in 1991. In 1990 I was appointed the Information Systems Officer which involved implementing and managing the Novell computer network and the various software packages utilised by the Resort in it's day to day operations including the Front Office System (Fidelio), Point of Sale System (Sysnet by H&L Australia) and the accounting package (Accpac). I also managed the various office products on the network. I had to prepare and maintain the systems budgets while keeping abreast of the current trends and new products that would maximise our successful use of the network.

Again, as I studied and made myself responsible for the various packages, only requesting support when I couldn't make it work, I was offered a position with H&L Australia as a technician.

H&L Australia Pty Ltd and later H&L Australia (QLD) Pty Ltd

I left Kooralbyn in February 1996 and relocated to Adelaide, South Australia to take up the position of Technician for this Point of Sale company. I was the companies first tech and it was a great experience. In 1998 I relocated once again back to Brisbane to become the companies sole representative in Queensland. I provided technical support 24/7 for our product as well as training, installation and advice to Managers and Owners of our clients properties. The office has grown since I first came back to Brisbane, we now have 3 techs, an Office Manager and State Manager, let alone H&L itself which has blossomed into an international company.

12 years later and I'm still there - Long Service Leave is this year...

Voluntary Organisations

1987- 1996

In 1987 I joined Air Sea Rescue Victoria Point as a volunteer rescue boat crew member.

During my time at Vicky Point, as we called it, I revelled in the work we were performing for the boating public in Moreton Bay. I was a member of "B" Roster and we served one weekend in four from Friday night to Sunday night. I completed all the nessessary qualifications, such as Rescue Boat endorsements, TL3 and VHF licenses as well as first aid qualifications from Queensland Ambulance. I was, after a period of time and due to other circumstances, appointed Skipper of "B" Roster, a position I held for a number of years.

The members of the organisation also voted me in as Public Relations Officer for 1991, 1993 and 1994 as well as Vice Commodore of the Association in 1993, and I proudly served the Association as Commodore in 1994/95 and 1995/96.

I resigned from the Association in 1996 to relocate to Adelaide for my new position at H&L Australia.