ICPA stalwart honoured

Joanna, who lives on Yudnapinna Station, 80 kilometres north-west of Port Augusta, has been a member of the SA ICPA since the turn of the century, and was awarded ICPA state council life membership at the association's annual state conference in Port Augusta earlier this year.

"It was pretty amazing (to be named a life member), and a great honour," she said.

"Usually I know what's going on at the conferences, but the committee had managed to keep it as a lovely surprise, I knew nothing about it."

Joanna first joined the ICPA North West branch as a member in the early 2000s, shortly after marrying husband James and moving to Parakylia Station, west of Roxby Downs, run by James' family.

Having grown up moving all across the country, and based in Sydney before moving to Parakylia, Joanna initially joined for the sake of meeting new people.

"I'd just come into the district and only had one good friend, and didn't know many others - so although my children where very young at the time, it was a great way to get involved in the community," she said.

Within a year of joining, Joanna became the North West branch member representative on the state council board.

She was also on the Remote Isolated Children's Exercise management board at the time, which "tied in well" with early childhood and distance education issues being tackled by ICPA.

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But the introduction of school lessons moving online, and all the problems which were associated with the switch, was where Joanna's advocating strength truly shone.

It wasn't long before she was communications portfolio leader for the state council, at a time when communication was rapidly changing.

"In the mid 2000s, people in the bush were just starting to get the internet. You didn't have any large capacity, it was slow, it dropped out all the time," she said.

"School lessons moved online, it was a disaster. There was a lot of time spent communicating with people about the issues we were having, and what types of things we could do to improve it.

"It's all very well sitting in Adelaide saying what does and doesn't work, but it certainly didn't work where we were."

Joanna said communications became her "pet topic", and with state council experience under her belt, she joined the ICPA federal council in 2013 for four years, during which she spent time holding the federal ICPA communications portfolio.

"I joined federal council as the NBN was just coming in," she said.

"It was an interesting time with lots of teething issues and discrepancies between states. But things have improved out of sight for a lot of people now."

While it is not mandatory for each state to have a representative on the ICPA federal council board, Joanna believed it was important to have someone "flying the SA flag" at the national level.

"You get so much more out of it than what you put in. You learn so much about politics, government departments, and you get great contacts with people in different industry bodies who can make a real difference," she said.

Joanna felt fortunate to have many mentors during her time in ICPA, namely fellow South Australian and state and federal council life member Jane Gloster, and former federal ICPA president Roxanne Morrissey.

Joanna's three children - Amelia, 23, Molly, 21, and Charlie, 19 - are nearing the end of their formal education, and Joanna has stepped back her ICPA commitment to where she started, as a North West branch member.

But her passion for the association remains as strong as ever, and she said she would be "more than happy" to continue lending a hand to state council members.

"There are a lot of people who don't stay in the bush because it's too hard, so ICPA is such an important organisation to enable us to advocate for the support that is required," she said.

ICPA state president Jill Greenfield, Billa Kalina Station, said state council life member Joanna Gibson had been "invaluable" to the association, with her wide knowledge base rarely matched by others.

"Joanna is one of those people who is a really good mentor to anyone else. It doesn't matter if they're younger or older, she's always helped others and has a very calming influence," Jill said.

"She steps up to a role and really knows her stuff.

"Joanna is across so many levels and so many portfolios and can talk to anyone and everyone about a range of topics."

Jill said Joanna's time on the federal council had been particularly admirable.

"With the NBN coming in and all the problems associated with that, Joanna fought very hard, advocating and tackling issues during that period was basically a full-time job for her," Jill said.

"She has a very good rapport, she is very approachable and easy to talk to - I think that is a really great asset to have."

Even though Joanna is no longer on the state council board, she will remain a "go-to person" for Jill.

"There probably isn't a week that goes by where I don't chat to Joanna asking for help with something. She is so amazingly articulate and able to go through things with a fine-tooth comb," Jill said.

"She never says she is too busy to help out. She is an absolute godsend."