What's your job about?

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s Policy insight division team looks at data, cases and events from the findings of the Royal Commission. I took the information name of the person, location and a summary of the events to and put them in a table. This allows the Policy team to take the findings and put in it a report reflecting further intervention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the NDIS. I used a method to develop a question looking at the population, intervention, comparator and outcome/findings.

What's your background?

I was born in Newcastle and went to 3 different Primary school while living in Newcastle, for high school I attend Collarenebri Central school which has a 96% Indigenous population. I left school at 16 after finishing year 10 and went to live my Dad. I worked for KFC and then went on to become a labour this led to an apprenticeship in metal fabrication in Gold Coast. After finishing the apprenticeship, I retrained in Community Services and become a Support worker which I did for 3.5 years.

In 2019 I enrolled in Open Foundation program through Newcastle University and went onto complete my bachelor’s in social science majoring in Sociology and anthropology in 2022. I was approached by CareerTrackers who specialise in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students getting into the corporate workforce. This allowed me to gain professional work experience at the NDIS Commission through an Internship program with the Policy Insights division, which then led on a fulltime role in at the NDIS Commission contact centre, my current role.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, my role as a contact centre officer I believe anyone from a different background could do the role, they would need a high level of communication skills, as we deal with a range of people in the community of all capacities. Active listening and clarification skills are a must, so we understand the information the customer on the line needs and can help direct them to the right solution or department in a professional manner. 

What's the coolest thing about your job?

My role requires that I look at multiple different resources and websites to provide information and educating people who need to access the various NDIS portals and databases. The best thing about my job is helping the community by assisting a caller on the line.  It's a wonderful feeling when I’m able help resolve the callers issue. This reminds me that the role I’m in is important for our community, particularly for people living with disability.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

If I could go back to when I was in university,

• I would like to spend more time with my aunty she was a university lecturer and a great motivator, especially around time management skills.
• I wished I didn’t get distracted and had better focus during the online lectures and made sure I read all the weekly readings.
• I really wished for the full university experiences at the end of my degree.