Cromer resident Shelia Hallinan, has become somewhat of a celebrity among her fellow residents and staff after appearing in footage for the Commonwealth Bank’s 100 year celebration.
Sheila features in a three minute segment on the Commonwealth Bank’s 100 years together website as one of the bank’s first female bank managers.
A resident of Australian Unity Willandra Bungalows retirement village, Shelia warmly recounts the early years of her career in what she called ‘a man’s world’.
“When I left school the only jobs available to women were in an office, nursing or as a school teacher. The expectation was that you would rear a family and working was a temporary thing,” Sheila said.
“A job came up in the Commonwealth Bank at that stage and I applied for it at my aunt’s insistence—eventually I got it.”
She said it was an exciting time as there were more opportunities for women while the ‘boys’ were away at war.
These days Sheila enjoys the slower pace of retirement and has since swapped the challenges faced working in a bank for challenging her fellow Willandra residents to a game of Mah Jong or Bridge.
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Media enquiries contact: Sarah Kulman, Public Affairs Adviser Australian Unity on 03 8682 6778 or 0400 006 295.
