Una Cullinan is calling time on a science career spanning three decades – including more than 20 years in leadership roles at our Forensic & Analytical Science Service (FASS) Illicit Drug Analysis Unit.

Una came to Aus­tralia from Ire­land on a gap year trip in the 1980s and says she fell in love with the coun­try (and an Aussie) and set­tled in Sydney.

“After doing a few fun jobs like assem­bling surf­boards on the North­ern Beach­es, test­ing beer at a brew­ery and a bit of teach­ing, it was time to find a job using my sci­ence degree, as I always knew I want­ed to work in a lab­o­ra­to­ry,” Una said.

She start­ed work in 1991 as a tech­ni­cal offi­cer in the Food Chem­istry section.

“We test­ed a wide range of foods for ingre­di­ent com­pli­ance as well as test­ing for var­i­ous tox­ins and preser­v­a­tives. I found the work real­ly interesting.

“Every­one was so friend­ly and there were lots of expe­ri­enced staff to learn from as well as lots of young, like-mind­ed enthu­si­as­tic scientists.”

In 1995 Una took up a posi­tion as a sci­en­tist in the drugs lab, an area that was expe­ri­enc­ing expo­nen­tial growth at the time.

She was appoint­ed to a team leader posi­tion in the Illic­it Drug Analy­sis Unit (IDAU) in 2003 and became the man­ag­er in 2019.

“When I start­ed, we were test­ing for just a hand­ful of drugs. That’s changed over the years with a lot of new design­er drugs and the require­ment for faster results.

“I enjoy work­ing with the police and hear­ing about their experiences.

“I nev­er thought I would be work­ing with ham­mers and drills but some­times we had to get the tools out to get into objects where drugs have been con­cealed – every­thing from pic­ture frames to tin tea chests.

“A ham­mer was often the best tool to smash up some of the hard­er blocks of cocaine. We didn’t need to go to the gym on those days!”

Proudest achievements

Una says with­out doubt, her fam­i­ly has been her most impor­tant achievement.

“Rais­ing my 3 beau­ti­ful girls while jug­gling a career with great help from my hus­band is by far my proud­est achieve­ment in life,” she said.

As for work high­lights? Una says she’s most proud of her work in pro­grams aimed at reduc­ing the harm caused by illic­it drugs.

“Help­ing to set up the COSMOSS project has been a stand­out. It was extra work to take on for the IDAU, but the project plays an impor­tant role in the harm reduc­tion strat­e­gy for NSW,” she explains.

“We con­tribute to the sur­veil­lance and mon­i­tor­ing of drugs in NSW and this has helped clin­i­cians in emer­gency depart­ments, pro­vid­ed intel on emerg­ing new sub­stances so the pub­lic can be warned, and ensured effec­tive treat­ments are pro­vid­ed to patients.

“I’ve also been real­ly proud of the work we’ve done to set up the lab for drugs test­ing at music fes­ti­vals this year.

“Attend­ing the fes­ti­vals and see­ing how enthu­si­as­tic our staff are at tak­ing on this impor­tant role, it’s real­ly unknown ter­ri­to­ry for us. It’s been great to see the IDAU staff inter­act­ing so well with patrons and oth­er fes­ti­val staff.”

A flexible, family-friendly and diverse workplace

Una says she’ll look back on FASS as a won­der­ful place to have worked, par­tic­u­lar­ly as a young mum with school-age children.

“My man­agers were always very sup­port­ive and allowed me flex­i­ble work arrangements.

“I was able to pop out to attend swim­ming car­ni­vals etc, much to my kids’ delight!

“I have also enjoyed work­ing with peo­ple from all over the world and learn­ing about their cul­tures and jour­neys. There have been lots of great mul­ti-cul­tur­al lunch­es over the years.”

Una says she’s pleased to have also had the chance to men­tor some of the next gen­er­a­tion of FASS staff, pass­ing on some of the knowl­edge gained over the years.

Oper­a­tions Direc­tor, Crim­i­nal­is­tics, Clint Cochrane says Una is long­stand­ing part of the FASS estab­lish­ment, whose exper­tise, prag­ma­tism and calm and sta­ble lead­er­ship will be missed.“Una has tak­en the IDAU lab­o­ra­to­ry for­ward, espe­cial­ly into proac­tive drug test­ing to enhance com­mu­ni­ty safe­ty,” he said.

“Her con­tri­bu­tion is uni­ver­sal­ly appre­ci­at­ed by all staff and stake­hold­ers alike.

“Una leaves IDAU as a thriv­ing lab­o­ra­to­ry well placed to ser­vice law enforce­ment, the jus­tice sys­tem and the wider NSW community.”

Plans for travel and time to relax

Una’s plans for retire­ment include lots of walks with her dog Bai­ley, explor­ing the new grow­ing sport of pick­le ball, long bike rides and more trav­el­ling with fam­i­ly and friends.

She’s also look­ing for­ward to hav­ing more time to read books and even a few sleep-ins.

Her advice for any­one think­ing about pur­su­ing a career in sci­ence is simple.

“Go for it, be patient and nev­er fear change. It’s always bet­ter to have a ’give it a go attitude”.

“And always remem­ber – don’t stress your­self over work!”

It’s great advice Una. We wish you a stress-free and enjoy­able retirement!

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