Tom Butcher, a second-year Bachelor of Commerce student majoring in Economics and Business Law at UWA, is a nominee for the McCusker Centre for Citizenship’s Outstanding Intern Award, after he made a significant contribution to the development of key documents and policies for Good Sammy Enterprises.
Tom interned with the organisation over the Winter university break working alongside the CEO and executive team.
“My main tasks included research, planning, development and writing of a Grievance Policy; a Succession Planning Policy which involved research into best practice professional development, training, and KPI setting for senior management staff; and laying the groundwork for actions and deliverables for Good Sammy’s inaugural Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP),” Tom said.
“The most rewarding element of my internship was the work I completed on the RAP... working with Good Sammy, I completed this research with disability and the prevalence of disability in Aboriginal communities as my focus.
“I was able to understand some serious challenges and how they impact access to employment, healthcare, and education for Indigenous people with disability,” Tom said.
“It was extremely rewarding to use the insight gained from research to lay foundations for future dialogue between Good Sammy and Indigenous stakeholders; Good Sammy will use the work I formulated to commit to reconciliation within the organisation, and drive change within society – an aspect of the internship I am extremely proud of,” he said.
“In terms of the Grievance Policy I developed, it will help ensure the voices of people with disability are amplified and treated with respect and seriousness.
“People with disability often encounter inequality in the workplace, so the work I did on the Good Sammy Grievance Policy will ensure that an employee with a disability has the voice to raise issues, with the procedure being fair and defined,” Tom said.
Kane Blackman, Good Sammy Enterprises CEO, said Tom worked at an extremely high standard while fitting in well with the organisation and office environment.
“Tom made a huge contribution to Good Sammy; he was instrumental in the creation of the RAP alongside Management, Grievance Policy and Succession Planning Policy that are now in use in our organisation as working documents,” Mr Blackman said.
“Tom researched effectively and used initiative to ensure the work he produced was relevant, and this work is already making an impact for our organisation and those in the community who we support.”
While the Outstanding Intern Award nomination reflects on the positive impact he had for Good Sammy, Tom also acknowledged the unique learning and development opportunities he had gained through the experience.
“I have lived in Perth my whole life, and this internship allowed me to build a better understanding of the meaningful economic and social participation work being done by organisations like Good Sammy,” Tom said.
“I gained insight into challenges facing different communities throughout WA and could strive to contribute to leading change and making a positive social impact.
“The internship taught me how to approach problems in a nuanced way, and I realised the importance of mapping out my thinking to develop a plan to guide my project work.
“I was also able to gain an understanding into how the board of an organisation functions, the roles of different departments, and insight into organisational policy and documentation – including the preparation and writing of formal policies.
“As a Business Law student, researching best practice legal and human resource frameworks for all three policies I helped develop was extremely beneficial.”