The community that Interchange has of employees and participants shows how awesome Interchange really is.
By Interchange Australia Marketing Coordinator Tahlia Bunt.
My name is Callie and I am the NDIS Team Leader her at Interchange Australia. I grew up in a small town south of Sydney, having the best of both worlds- the bush and the beach. I grew up riding horses and was a competitive horse rider for most of my teenage life. I spent a lot of time traveling around NSW with horses, I competed at State and National events and loved riding, and have made life-long friendships doing so.
My parents and grandparents are my biggest role models, all of them being extremely hard workers. My parents worked hard so myself and my younger brother never went without, and it has positively influenced me in my professional and personal life to work hard, and enjoy every day as it comes. Prior to coming to Interchange, I worked as a Support Coordinator in Norwest Sydney and also worked for nearly 5 years as a dementia nurse while studying a Bachelor of Human Services full-time for 4 years, majoring in Psychology. I also have a Diploma in Sociology, and Certificate in Individual Care and Support. I love learning new things and challenging myself, and take every opportunity I can to study.
I made the move to Interchange because my partner of 8 years and myself decided we wanted a change from the coast to the beautiful Southern Highlands. We love the area, and wanted to be able to base ourselves here and set ourselves up for our forever with local jobs. Naturally, I have always been drawn to the human services sector. Being able to not only assist people to manage their day to day life, but also thrive and live the life they want to live, is so rewarding. From the moment I finished school, I knew this is where I wanted to be. Many years of hard work has equipped me with the knowledge and resources I need to ensure I can help as many people as possible and I hope to continue this path throughout my professional life.
I love the work that Interchange Australia do – especially the awesome activities that Participants have the opportunity to participate in. I think I was drawn to Interchange as the company philosophy ‘supporting you to live independently in your community’ resonates with me as I am passionate about ensuring people with disabilities and our older community have the same access and equal opportunity to engage as the rest of our community. Being able to not only meet the needs of participants, but also exceed that, and create an awesome, fun and inclusive community for everyone.
My role at Interchange is as the NDIS Team Leader. In working with our community and participants, I get to provide advice and guidance to Participants and their families, as well as work with my colleagues to obtain the best possible outcomes for the people we work with. Further developing Interchange’s Service Delivery is part of my role, and I am excited to work with the team to develop new and innovative forms of service delivery. Along with our team, I also provide specialist support coordination. This is a higher level of support than Support Coordination, with the focus of reducing complexity in a participant’s support environment, and helping the participant overcome immediate and/or significant barriers in accessing their NDIS services. I am passionate about working with Participants to achieve the best possible outcomes and live their life the way they would like to.
The best thing about working at Interchange is for sure the people! Everyone has been so kind since I began my role here at the beginning of this year, and the community that Interchange has of employees and participants/clients shows how awesome Interchange really is.
