What's your internship job about?

An example of a project I am working on is my ‘supported decision making’ paper, which is important to understand and implement to achieve these goals. To develop my skills, I am encouraged to use my research to form ideas and opinions on how to achieve these goals.  I spent many weeks researching supported decision-making information and recommendations from NGOs and disability services to determine what I believed the Commission’s standpoint should be. This paper has gone to the Human Rights team, the Director of the Intergovernmental and Regulatory Policy team, and once I have received this feedback and worked on the paper, will go to specialists. This work could eventuate in being a guideline for providers and support workers to help facilitate choice and control for people living with disability. I received constant support and feedback from my supervisor in meetings and document comments that helped me to produce work that I believed in and was proud of. 

What's your background?

I was born in the United Kingdom and lived in different cities around England until I was 6. I then moved to Qatar in the Middle East where I lived for 7 years before moving to Australia. Moving around a lot as a kid taught me to be open to new experiences and new people. Every friend I grew up with in Qatar came from an entirely different background to me, which has taught me how to communicate and connect with people from all walks of life. I was an athlete in swimming until I was 19 years old. I swam full-time for a year from when I graduated high school to pursue my goal of representing Australia. Though I didn’t end up achieving that goal and left the sport at a relatively young age, some of the things I am most proud of about myself have been traits that I developed through swimming. Since retiring from the sport, I have focused on my other passions such as academia. I am now entering my fourth year of studying a double degree with Law and Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) in Canberra. I am particularly interested and passionate about legal justice and reform for sentencing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I have focused some of my university research on the impact of disability on First Nations peoples, which contributed to my interest in the internship at the NDIS Commission. I hope to work in remote communities in the Northern Territory for many years after I complete my degree.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Someone with a different background could do my job. I know this because I learnt so much as my internship was beginning and have continued to learn as it progresses. Though I come from a background of law and do have an academic understanding of policy, there are many backgrounds that would support learning in an internship like this one. The most important thing is to engage with the Commission’s projects with empathy and commitment to improving the lives of people with disability. Finding ways to implement existing learning skills into the working environment is also more important than having a specific background. 

What's the best thing about your job?

The best thing about my job is that every project I get given is met with a balance of challenging me and supporting me. At times, the content I am surrounded by can be slightly distressing or difficult to process. The team I work with and people outside of my team extend their support and guidance to me and ensure that I know that there is someone around who will be able to help me if I need. The culture of the internship has been a ‘individual first’ approach- there is a focus on teaching an intern the balance of personal, academic and professional endeavours.