Alumni and Supporters

Bachelor of Communications (2003)
Graduate Diploma of Broadcasting (2023)

“You’re never too old and it’s never too late” is the mantra Claire Ridley has been living by in recent years.

Aged 40 with a one-year-old baby, Claire pressed pause on her highly successful marketing career to return to ECU to study the Graduate Diploma of Broadcasting – 20 years after graduating with a Bachelor of Communications (Marketing and Advertising).

“I wanted to do broadcasting back when I finished school, and I can’t for the life of me remember why I didn’t,” Claire explains. “At school we had a tv show and I was the newsreader. It was always in the back of my mind all these years.”

After a series of major life events – redundancy, 2.5 years of IVF during the Covid-19 pandemic, pregnancy and raising a newborn – Claire decided it was time to take a chance on a career change.

“It was the year that I was on maternity leave, and I thought, you know what? It’s now or never to go and give this a go before I return to work and just slot back in where I left off and probably stay in marketing forever.

“I think it was the fact that I was having some time off that made me think, let's give it a go. IVF was probably another reason that inspired me to do it because it taught me to never give up.

“And also turning 40 and having all those things coupled together are a bit of a life changing moment where you're like, okay, now's the time to give this a go. Life is short.”

Surrounded by a great support network to help her care for young son Arlo, Claire returned to ECU at the beginning of 2023 to take on the Diploma of Broadcasting, with any initial nerves quickly dissipating.

“I thought, I'm going to be so old. I'm going be the oldest one in the class, but actually, there was a heap of people that were changing their careers and I actually wasn't the oldest,” she laughs. “If you put your heart and your mind to it, you can achieve anything at any age.”

Claire proved that quickly, landing a job with Nine News Perth halfway through the course after a successful work experience stint.

“As a part of the course you go on a whole series of professional placements. I went to a couple of radio stations and then Channel Nine. On the last day the director of news said we'd love to offer you some casual employment.

“It was really good because I was learning right inside the newsroom and then also learning at uni as well, so I had the best the best of both worlds.”

“You’re never too old and it’s never too late”

Juggling motherhood, work and study is never easy, but Claire says she loved her return to ECU, with the length of the post graduate diploma making it a manageable change.

“It’s great that ECU offers these courses. You’re having to leave a career and not really earn much to go back and study, but being only one year is a big drawcard.

“Also being taught by people that have actually been in the industry or are still in the industry is key for me, because they know everything that they're teaching us is relevant, and they have first-hand experience.”

Completing the course in November, Claire is continuing on at Nine News as well as joining a parenting podcast in the new year.

“I'm just focusing on learning all different areas of the newsroom, so I’m producing, learning Chief of Staff, doing a bit of reporting where they need me, kind of just happy to just start from the ground up and learn everything, being new to the industry.

“I definitely want to stay in the broadcasting space. I’m loving what I'm doing at Channel Nine, gaining more skills and experience there and seeing where that takes me. I’m really enjoying learning and being in the team.”

Instead of being a barrier, Claire credits her previous experience and skills as a bonus, and encouraged anyone thinking about studying as a mature age student to go for it.

“I look back now and I'm pretty proud of what I managed to achieve in a short space of time,” she says. “I don't think anyone that is straight from school or uni would be put straight into that kind of role. I think it is because I do have experience behind me, particularly in the communications and media space. So I think a lot of it is transferable skills that I've got and I'm not going in completely green.

“I was a lot more committed studying now than when I was a teenager. I definitely didn’t apply myself as much as I could have first time around. (But as an adult) you've got the maturity and you're paying, and you want to get the most out of it.

“I would say don’t give up on your dreams. It’s never too late.”