Samantha Buckis found her line of work by chance but it has given her a career direction that might prove lifelong.

"People tend to stumble into working on road safety – they don't really grow up wanting to be road safety professionals – but then they stay because it is such meaningful work, about saving lives and preventing injuries," she says.

Samantha Buckis and her team focus on educating the public about road safety.

Buckis grew up in Geelong and studied psychology and philosophy at Deakin University, hoping for a career in which she could make a positive difference to people's lives. She was working with a foster-care agency and heading for post-graduate studies when she heard that Victoria's Traffic Accident Commission (TAC) was about to move its headquarters from Melbourne to Geelong and wanted to recruit a graduate psychologist with research skills in behavioural science to work on road safety.

"Somehow I managed to get the job and I haven't looked back. It's an amazing area to work in." The TAC runs Victoria's no-fault accident compensation scheme. As well as paying benefits to people injured in transport accidents, its staff work closely with Victoria Police and VicRoads to better understand and address the causes of road accidents and develop campaigns that increase awareness of issues, change behaviour and reduce the incidence of road trauma.