Businesswoman to leader: how Marg O'Rourke became a champion for Bendigo

Currently serving as a councillor for the City of Greater Bendigo and as the head of campus at La Trobe University Bendigo, Ms O'Rourke has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to her home town.

She said receiving an OAM was not something she was ever expecting, but she was very honoured.

Born and raised in Bendigo East, Ms O'Rourke left Bendigo in her early 30s, working in various roles at Telstra and eventually returning to Bendigo in 2006 as the general manager for Telstra Countrywide.

She said when she came back, she felt as if Bendigo had "matured".

"Bendigo has absolutely grown in leaps and bounds," she said.

"It's a very different place, but in saying that, the heart's still the same and the community is incredible."

If you named a major organisation in Bendigo, there would be a chance Ms O'Rourke has been involved in some way.

She was chair of Bendigo TAFE from 2010 to 2014 and again at Bendigo Kangan Institute since 2022; a non-executive director at Goulburn-Murray Water since 2014; a board director at Bendigo Health from 2012 to 2018; chair of Regional Cities Victoria from 2017 to 2020; and served as mayor of the City of Greater Bendigo a record four consecutive times.

She owned her own business M'OR Consulting from 2011 to 2021 and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In all her roles, Ms O'Rourke said she's been serving the community.

"Certainly with council, I know it's a political role, but I've never seen myself as a politician, I've always seen it as community work," she said.

During her last 12 months as mayor the COVID-19 pandemic struck and her role became about bringing stability and calm to the city and keeping the community informed.

"It was challenging, but I also look at it as rewarding as well," she said.

"I think we did the best we could under the circumstances."

If Bendigo has grown, in turn so has its infrastructure, and there was hardly a major project completed in the CBD without Ms O'Rourke's influence.

About $300m of investment had been made in the city in her time on council, she said, and projects such as the Bendigo Hospital, the Bendigo TAFE campus, the Bendigo Law Courts and Galkangu Bendigo GovHub were completed.

Ms O'Rourke said in her various roles and organisations, she had tried to offer her strength, experience and expertise.

"You come across things where you feel you can give ... and you hope at the end of that time that you'll leave what you've started in a better position than when you came," she said.