Thilini Mudiyanselage recently undertook an internship with the City of Swan through the McCusker Centre for Citizenship (the Centre), earning a nomination for the Centre’s Outstanding Intern Award through her efforts.
Taking on the internship in the final Semester of her Master of Environmental Science degree at UWA, Thilini assisted the Organisational Planning and Development Team at the City of Swan (the City) build a register of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to help improve service delivery.
“I focused on ensuring that the KPIs used by the City were designed to accurately measure its performance. This outcome serves as a valuable resource for tracking its performance across key result areas, ensuring that the City's initiatives are on track to deliver the intended benefits to the community and improve quality of life for residents,” Thilini said.
“My exposure to the work of the City expanded my understanding of community development and the variety of services that local governments provide.”
Romy Stein, Senior Corporate Project Manager, said that Thilini's inquisitive and comprehensive approach to her research would improve the way the City plans.
“Thilini researched local government KPIs across the whole of Australia, going above and beyond to research best practice approaches to KPIs. She also drew on personal knowledge from her Environmental Management studies to make sophisticated recommendations on our Natural Environment KPIs,” Ms Stein said.
“Because of the quality and comprehensiveness of Thilini's work, the City will be able to improve the way it measures its impact, and having a better feedback loop is part of how the City will improve its services for community.”
Thilini said that the most rewarding aspect of the internship was working closely with Ms Stein and the team.
“The guidance and direction provided by Romy, and the organisational and professional standards demonstrated by the team made the internship a priceless opportunity in my professional journey. I feel blessed to have been surrounded by such a supportive supervisor and team, who believed in my abilities, provided feedback and invited me to participate meaningfully,” she said.
“I would wholeheartedly recommend a McCusker Centre internship to other students. It was a top-class professional experience that helped me to realise my responsibility towards the community and society and gave me an opportunity to apply my knowledge and skills.
“I am incredibly grateful to be nominated for the Outstanding Intern Award – this recognition was an unexpected highlight from my internship experience.”