Our recruitment team, workforce specialists and leadership coaches
Above & Beyond Group | 3D Recruit Team
Director, Founder & Consultant
Laura Sutherland
Laura is a Workforce specialist, Leadership and Career Coach. Her core professional purpose is to support individuals to fulfill their career potential, and support employers to develop the potential within their people.
Laura originally trained in Psychology with a BA (Hons) and started her career in Mental Health and Aged Care. She moved into the world of Recruitment in 2005 and chose to specialise in these sectors which she has a deep understanding of and connection to.
After working for large corporate recruitment companies in the UK and Australia, Laura identified the need for a more bespoke service to meet the unique demands of Aged Care & Community Services, and so she started 3D Recruit in 2012. Six years later Laura evolved the business to extend ‘Above & Beyond’ traditional recruitment to offer end to end workforce solutions in addition recruitment, including employee engagement, performance improvement, leadership development, coaching, and culture transformation.
Laura is considered the go-to trusted advisor on workforce challenges in our industry. Her honest approach is valued and she invests absolute care and attention to her clients. Laura has a strategic focus on the future and has been the Chair of the WA Ambassador Council for LASA’s NEXT GEN. She is committed to developing the capability and capacity within an organisation’s most valuable asset – their people, so that our whole industry can flourish into the future, for the benefit of us all.
Recruitment & Workforce Solutions Manager
Lucy Sawkins RN
Lucy has a wealth of combined experience as a Registered Nurse and as a Healthcare Recruitment Consultant.
She completed her training in the UK in 1998 and shortly after moved to Perth. Here she worked in a variety of settings including Aged Care, Community and Hospitals throughout Australia (including remote communities) and has been a clinical educator for a Perth University.
Being on the ‘frontline’ Lucy quickly identified the issues the Health Care system was experiencing with staff shortages and retention and the impact this had on the rest of the clinical staff and those in their care.
In 2006, Lucy began her transition into the world of recruitment – this began in supporting Aged Care Facilities and Home Care clients with their Ad Hoc day to day staffing needs. Lucy’s passion for providing dedicated and competent staff during shortages and knowing that this was making an instant difference to so many giving and receiving care, grew exponentially.
Lucy’s ability to relate to senior stakeholders balancing staffing needs, the clinical staff that become overwhelmed by said shortages and the direct impact it has on those receiving care continued to drive her passion for healthcare recruitment.
Finding a more permanent cultural and clinical fit for both her candidates and clients alike is paramount for Lucy. Knowing that she has assisted an organisation to grow and retain their dedicated team, her candidates in finding that ‘perfect match’ where they feel valued and can further develop and offer their skills is reward enough, but to enable those that need it most to be cared for appropriately provides her with great satisfaction.
Maintaining her registration and keeping abreast of the industry and clinical skills ensures Lucy provides quality matches for candidates and clients and has a full understanding of the industry and its current challenges.
Providing a holistic service and a truly personal journey is something that Lucy values and prides herself on.
Principal Recruitment Consultant
Kiran Plaha
Kiran is a highly experienced recruitment professional, having built her career in the UK before continuing her work across Australia. Since entering recruitment in 2013, she has worked across multiple sectors, with a clear passion for people-led strategies that deliver meaningful, long-term outcomes for both organisations and individuals.
Known for her deeply consultative approach, Kiran prioritises building trust and long-standing relationships. She takes ownership of every recruitment process, investing the time to truly understand her clients’ organisational and team needs, culture and challenges, whilst also supporting candidates through pivotal career decisions with care, diligence and integrity. Her approach is grounded in honesty, clarity, and follow-through, ensuring expectations are aligned and outcomes are achieved.
Kiran is recognised for her high standards and commitment to excellence, which is reflected in strong repeat business, referrals, and genuine partnerships. She communicates clearly, collaborates closely with clients and stakeholders, and is consistently focused on finding practical solutions, even when this extends beyond making the placement.
Candidates describe feeling genuinely listened to, supported, and confident throughout their journey with Kiran, and clients value her reliability, insight, and ability to identify talent that strengthens both performance and culture. Kiran has a natural ability to put people at ease, ask the right questions, and uncover the strengths that create the right long-term fit.
As a Specialist Consultant in our sector, Kiran brings a strategic mindset. She is driven to make a real difference, building teams that last, contributing to positive workplace cultures, and helping organisations grow through thoughtful, human-centred recruitment.
Above & Beyond Group Coaches, Consultants & Facilitators
Performance & Transformative Leadership Coach
Arlene Quinn
Arlene has studied people to people communication over the last 30 years, obtaining a Master of Commerce, and other tertiary qualifications in adult learning, human resource development, and coaching.
She provides individual, and group coaching for executives, managers and teams using her skills in performance and transformative leadership coaching.
Arlene works with clients seeking career advancement, function development, or re-engineering work processes for service excellence.
She is regularly sought out for strategic and business facilitation.
Arlene conducts interactive training programs on leadership resilience, and communication using her knowledge of the brain and thinking patterns. Arlene uses many tools for diagnostic development of leaders and teams.
HR Consultant
Andrea Sulda
Andrea is an experienced HR specialist who has spent over 14 years working with companies in the Insurance and Aged Care sectors. Over the years, she has developed a high level of expertise in developing and leading people strategies that align with the company’s vision, whilst fostering a robust and engaged workforce. Her passion lies in creating a sustainable working culture for organisations that not only helps improve staff morale but also drives business success.
Her key strength lies in her ability to implement people strategies that align with an organisation’s mission and vision. She possesses a wealth of experience in managing complex HR projects such as workforce restructuring and change management initiatives. Her vast experience combined with her ability to communicate effectively and transparently with team members at all levels is essential in maintaining a solid and streamlined HR strategy for businesses.
With her exceptional knowledge of HR, coupled with her passion for creating a positive working culture, Andrea provides a unique and valuable perspective to businesses looking to develop their HR function. Her unparalleled ability to communicate, build, and maintain relationships with various stakeholders, combined with her track record in delivering results, makes her an asset to any organisation seeking a reliable HR consultant for long-term growth and success.
Leadership & Wellbeing Coach
Bernadette Durrell
Bernadette draws on her 30 years of experience and knowledge as a leader to help individuals and organisations understand leaders pressure points. She works with leaders to take action to reduce them. She has worked with not for profits, Local and Federal Governments, small and large businesses.
Clients at all levels of leadership benefit from Bernadette’s input to address gaps in the soft and hard skills of leadership through coaching, mentoring, training, and facilitation. These include but are not limited to, self-awareness, goal setting, time management, personal and corporate values, and change management.
An area of specific focus for Bernadette is wellbeing and its impact on leaders and their teams. Burnout is increasing and supporting leaders to identify where they are on the wellbeing continuum opens the way to change and optimise energy, productivity and performance for the individual and their team.
Her greatest strengths are the ability to look at issues from a systemic and personal perspective, building rapport, and empathy while encouraging critical feedback to support change.
Bernadette has qualifications in nursing, counselling, leadership, training and Extended DISC and Global Leadership Wellbeing Survey.
Leadership Consultant & Coach
Claire Lucas
Claire Lucas is a leadership consultant and executive coach with over 20 years of experience driving transformational change in purpose-driven sectors. She partners with organisations to strengthen leadership, build cultural agility, and enhance resilience—empowering teams to navigate complexity, elevate engagement, and deliver high-quality care.
With deep sector expertise, Claire helps executives and leadership teams foster trust, accountability, and innovation. She specialises in diagnosing leadership dynamics, optimising team performance, and shaping strategies that drive operational excellence and person-centered care.
Blending high performance with human connection, Claire equips leaders with the strategic and people-focused skills to lead with confidence. Backed by qualifications from leading global institutions, she applies evidence-based methodologies to drive sustainable change and build values-driven cultures where people and organisations thrive.
Change Management & Performance Coach
Connie Howe
With extensive experience in Human Resources and leading organisational change projects, Connie brings a wealth of knowledge and practical insights to her coaching. Her approach is deeply rooted in neuroscience, positive psychology, and creative leadership.
From government agencies to the private sector and from the UK to WA, Connie puts people front and centre of business improvement initiatives.
She’s on a mission to support leaders to build workplaces that are change capable, improving their performance, output, teamwork and resilience.
Leadership & Performance Coach & HR Consultant
Karen Dorrington
Karen is a Leadership, Performance & Executive Coach, and your all-rounder HR Professional.
She provides coaching for individuals, leaders & executives looking to level up and unleash their full potential.
She has a knack of balancing strategy and execution with ease. She knows deeply the nuances with working with complex organisations and brings to the table a level of understanding from baseline operations through to senior executive level.
Karen can help plan and facilitate your executive strategy and team sessions, work with you to develop pragmatic plans or project manage the execution of a wide range of people related initiatives.
These include:
- Leadership optimisation
- CILCA 360 Debrief | LSI 1&2 Debriefs
- Team offsites | team coaching | group coaching
- Culture optimisation programs
- Change & enterprise wide communications
- Talent, Performance
- Process Improvement
- Resilience, self-care, and self-mastery workshops
- HR Information Systems
- Tenders writing & HR Management Plans
- Mergers & Transitions
- Leave backfilling – Generalist HR engagements
Qualifications include: Human Resources Post Graduate Certificate (Top 5%) Organisational & Executive Coaching Qualified | Member of International Coach Federation | CILCA 360 & LSI1 & 2 Qualified | Currently studying Psychodynamic Psychotherapy & Counselling.