Kate Ye is studying Business Law and Finance at UWA and recently supported Anglicare WA with research to inform their service delivery, through a McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship.
Kate’s Innovation and Marketing Intern role tasked her with undertaking research, working on a project plan, and providing day-to-day support for Anglicare’s marketing team.
“Each year Anglicare WA scans recent and emerging trends, with the aim of gauging what is changing in our society and what the community needs,” Kate said.
“I helped with some desktop research towards this year’s environmental scan by researching upcoming trends; my findings identified a growing demand for data transparency and rapid growth in the AI and digitisation space.
“The growing appeal of rural living was another theme that came through, alongside the increasing prioritisation of belonging, whether that be in an online or physical community,” she said.
Kate also reviewed socio-economic data to help Anglicare’s Innovation team identify opportunities for place-based local responses.
“The SEIFA (Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas) index is created by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to measure socio-economic advantage or disadvantage in different areas of Australia relative to each other.
“I researched and compiled data from this index, to help Anglicare to see which areas are at greater disadvantage so that they can direct their resources into projects for those in greatest need,” Kate said.
Joni Sercombe, Innovation Design Manager with Anglicare WA and internship supervisor, said that Kate’s research efforts scanning the political landscape, identifying emerging themes, and analysing demographic data were valuable to her team.
“This kind of background research helps ensure that our work is timely and that it responds to changing demographics and environments,” she said.
Kate said that the internship experience had taught her more about work that is undertaken to address issues facing WA communities, and about working in organisations that are serving the community.
“It was rewarding for me to see that my input contributed to the wonderful work Anglicare WA are doing to better the lives of many people who are facing hardship yet struggling to find support.
“I would highly recommend the McCusker Centre for Internship Program to any student wanting to gain an understanding about the not-for profit sector, or to know that they are spending their time on something that is making a positive difference in people’s lives.”