For Trixie Ng, a Bachelor of Arts student majoring in Communication and Media Studies, a McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship offered an opportunity to do more than develop professional skills. It was a chance to see how communication and design can be used to make a tangible difference in people's lives.
Through her internship with Centre for Accessibility Australia (CFA Australia), Trixie contributed to marketing, design and community-focused projects that supported the organisation's mission of improving digital accessibility and inclusion for people with disability.
Among the projects she worked on, one stood out as particularly meaningful: helping allocate refurbished laptops to individuals who otherwise faced barriers to accessing technology.
"Every time I allocated a laptop and wrote someone's name down, it felt like more than simply completing a task," Trixie said.
"I knew that the device could help support education, employment, communication or everyday access to digital services. It made the impact of the organisation's work feel very real to me."
Alongside supporting the Accessible Tech for All program, Trixie designed promotional materials, contributed to marketing campaigns and helped develop communication resources, including sponsorship materials for the 2027 Australian Access Awards.
For CFA Australia Chief Executive Officer Dr Scott Hollier, what distinguished Trixie was her willingness to look beyond the immediate task and understand the broader purpose behind the work.
"Rather than purely approaching projects as design assignments, Trixie made a genuine effort to understand our organisational objectives, stakeholders and the communities our work seeks to benefit," Scott said.
"She consistently demonstrated initiative, creative thinking and a strong commitment to producing work that supported our mission."
During her internship, Trixie was required to work with unfamiliar software and design platforms. While challenging at times, the experience strengthened her ability to learn independently and adapt to new situations.
"At times, I felt like I was racing against the clock while learning unfamiliar tools and making design decisions independently," she said.
"But it became one of the areas where I grew the most. I became much more confident in adapting to new technology, problem-solving and finding solutions for myself."
The internship also changed Trixie's perspective on digital accessibility and community contribution.
"Before my internship, I understood digital accessibility as an important principle, but the internship showed me how barriers can affect people's everyday lives in very practical ways," she said.
"It also helped me realise that skills like communication, design and organisation can contribute to meaningful outcomes for people and communities."
Scott said Trixie's contributions extended beyond the quality of the work she produced.
"The value of Trixie's contribution lies not only in the work itself, but in the care and consideration she brought to every task," he said.
"She showed genuine interest in the people our programs support and consistently looked for ways to contribute beyond what was expected."
Trixie said one of her biggest takeaways was learning that professional development and community contribution can go hand in hand.
"I originally applied because I wanted professional experience, but I came away with much more than that," she said.
"The internship showed me that the skills I'm developing through my studies can be used to support important causes and create positive outcomes for others. That's something I'll carry with me throughout my career."