Isabel Milne, a UWA Science student working toward a double major in Psychology and Criminology, has been nominated for an Outstanding Intern Award, for her contribution to the work of VisAbility.
VisAbility provides support services to members of the community with low or no vision, and Isabel contributed 100 hours through her McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship supporting the organisation to improve their child safety policies and increase community engagement.
“The most rewarding part of the internship was seeing how all our work came together at the end - looking back at where we started and the policies and plans we were able to get off of the ground,” Isabel said.
“The work I undertook during my internship with VisAbility has the potential to benefit the vision-impaired community by allowing them to have a greater say in what products and services they would like to have access to,
“This work also ensures that the safety of the children accessing the services remains paramount,” she said.
Isabel’s nomination for an Outstanding Intern Award reflects the significant contribution she made to VisAbility’s work and the broader community through her internship.
Ann Walker, Isabel’s internship supervisor, said her efforts during the internship had earned her the Award nomination.
“Isabel’s internship focussed on improving the service delivery for people with disabilities at VisAbility (as part of the EverAbility Group) in Tasmania and Western Australia,
“Isabel demonstrated an outstanding work ethic, enthusiasm and commitment to her internship,” she said.
“She also demonstrated a high level of analytical ability in being able to research literature, organisational policies and apply these high-level concepts to the development of an updated consumer engagement strategy and policy,
“Isabel performed at a level that exceeded our expectations, and is well deserving of this nomination,”
Reflecting on what she gained from the internship experience personally, Isabel said:
“The internship definitely opened my eyes to all the work that goes on behind the scenes in a large community-focused organisation; while the public can see the end product of a program or initiative, there are large planning and administrative aspects to those programs,” she said.
“I would 100% recommend a McCusker Centre Internship to other students who are looking for an elective that’s a bit different or who are looking to gain experience in their field of study as well as professional skills; it is so rewarding to see how work you do is able to benefit the community,” Isabel said.