Celebrating a Decade of Dedication: Nerrida Higgins' Ten Years at Burgmann College
Since joining the College a decade ago, Nerrida has played a pivotal role in shaping the financial strength, operational excellence, and enduring success of Burgmann. Her stewardship has always been steady and considered, marked by expertise, tenacity, and a deep commitment to the College.
Across her ten years of service, Nerrida has worked closely with five different Principals — Sally, Amelia, Alex, Taryn, and now Brenda — each bringing their own approach and priorities to the role. Through every transition, Nerrida has provided the calm consistency and institutional knowledge that has ensured continuity and stability for the College during periods of change.
Originally appointed as Manager, Business & Finance, and now serving as Director of Finance, Nerrida has transformed every aspect of financial management at Burgmann. Under her direction, personnel records, accounting systems, external audit and taxation compliance, contracts, payroll, budgeting, reporting, and monitoring have all been strengthened and modernised. Her management of the College's relationships with ANU and our banking partners has been marked by courage and sensitivity, ensuring that the College's needs are met and its position protected at every turn.
In recent years, Nerrida has guided the College through extraordinary challenges — bushfire smoke, hailstorms, and the pandemic — each presenting unrelenting and often daunting financial conditions. She rose to meet each one, inventing and implementing new procedures at pace, and developing monitoring and analysis tools that enabled the Board and management to make informed, complex decisions. Through Nerrida's service, the College has not only weathered these storms but emerged thriving and better placed for the future.
In recognition of her extraordinary contribution, Nerrida was celebrated as the recipient of the 2023 Staff Award — a well-deserved acknowledgement of the breadth and depth of her impact on the College.
Working quietly behind the scenes, Nerrida stretches every dollar and negotiates every contract to protect both the College's finances and its values, driving a hard bargain with contractors to ensure the best possible outcomes for Burgmann.
Nerrida has also been instrumental in the continual renewal of the College's physical environment. She worked closely with Sally and Amelia on the refurbishment of the Undergraduate Courtyard and stair towers and has been determined in her pursuit of ensuring that every undergraduate bedroom has new carpet. She is now leading the planning for the upcoming Village renovations.
Nerrida's work has delivered many of the improvements residents and staff enjoy today, including the new student music room, the new computer room, and the recently refreshed reception area. When Nerrida first started at the College, every door still required a physical key. She led the transition to our current electronic lock system and is now driving the next leap forward — a system that will allow residents to use their phones as keys.
Beyond the bricks, mortar, and balance sheets, Nerrida speaks most warmly about her role on the Scholarships and Bursaries Committee, which over the past ten years has awarded more than $1 million to support residents to live at Burgmann while they study at the ANU. For Nerrida, this work — enabling young people to access and thrive in the Burgmann experience — is the most meaningful part of her role.
Nerrida's commitment to the College extends well beyond her professional role. As a proud member of the St Beryl Society, she has chosen to leave a Gift in her Will to Burgmann — a deeply personal act of generosity that reflects her enduring belief in the College and her hope for the generations of residents yet to come.
Dedicated, generous with her time, and unfailingly committed, Nerrida rarely seeks recognition for the extraordinary breadth of work she undertakes. As former BRA President Charley Ellwood reflected in his final Board report of 2025:
"I have never met someone so dedicated and passionate about the place that they work. Your financial expertise and passion for seeing Burg succeed is simply phenomenal, and I don't know how you do the job of 17 people, and somehow still always have time for a chat."
It is a sentiment shared across the College community.
In Nerrida's own words, Burgmann is more than just a workplace — it is an extension of her family. She speaks often of the wonderful mix of personalities, the dedication of her colleagues, and the achievements of residents, all of which, she says, keeps her young at heart.
Over the past decade, Nerrida's remarkable work ethic, financial acumen, humility, and boundless energy for Burgmann College have left an indelible mark on our community.
To Nerrida — on behalf of the entire Burgmann community, thank you for a decade of exceptional service, and for the remarkable difference you have made, and continue to make, to our College.
