Meet Abbey Cusack, LiveBetter Bathurst’s new Work Health and Safety Administration Assistant. Abbey, who lives with Cerebral Palsy, first walked through the doors of LiveBetter Bathurst as a disability customer, but her goal was to one day work in an office.
It wasn’t long before she was volunteering at the Bathurst office each week, impressing those around her with her commitment and enthusiasm, and ultimately being offered the opportunity to complete a Business Administration Traineeship.
That was over three years ago, and since then Abbey has gone from strength to strength, successfully combining work and study and refusing to allow her disability to define her or prevent her from reaching her goals.
To mark International Day of People with Disability we sat down with Abbey. We wanted to learn more about her new role at LiveBetter, and how living with disability informs her work and her attitude to life.
And importantly, we wanted to share her story, a story we believe will serve as inspiration to other young people who live with disability and are just starting out on their employment journey.
Background
Abbey was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when she was just three days old and today uses two sticks and a walking frame to support her mobility.
An only child, she was born in Western Sydney but moved with her parents to Bathurst in the NSW Central West at the age of fifteen. For any teenager, moving to a new town, and a new school, has its share of challenges. It was no different for Abbey, who like so many young people, just wanted to fit in.
Growing up with a disability was challenging. I still have those negative thoughts – that I’m not like everybody else, that I can’t do things.
But these problems were not insurmountable, and she grew to love the town where she still lives with her parents and Winston, her dachshund.
“Although I still struggle with those thoughts, working somewhere where I am comfortable, and where I am accepted – it does make a difference.”
LiveBetter
Abbey completed her schooling during the lockdown years of the COVID-19 Pandemic, but when restrictions began to ease, Abbey began attending LiveBetter’s Friday night social group, held weekly in Bathurst.
But what she really wanted was meaningful employment, and her love of structure, and affinity with computers made office work seem very attractive.
I was a customer at LiveBetter, but I’d always wanted to work in an office. I asked if I could do some volunteer work, just simple little jobs like filing. LiveBetter were so supportive. They said absolutely, and I started the following week.
Abbey loved the work, and it showed. Soon after she began a Business Administration Traineeship (Certificate 2). Each week Abbey would spend three days at TAFE, and two days working at the Bathurst LiveBetter office, gaining vital on-the-job experience.
Abbey completed the Certificate 2 Traineeship and was then encouraged to go to the next level. After completing the Certificate 3 Traineeship Abbey was offered, and accepted, a full-time administration role at LiveBetter.
“My first full-time role at LiveBetter was Facilities Administrator at the Bathurst LiveBetter office. It was such a great experience. I loved the variety of work. It could be challenging – but I learnt so much.”
“LiveBetter has done so much for me – supporting me through volunteering, two traineeships and then employing me full-time. They’ve really helped to build me up.”
In an exciting development, Abbey recently took on a new role at LiveBetter.
“I’m really excited about this new role. I’ll mostly be providing administrative support to our Work, Health, and Safety team, and I’m looking forward to the new challenge. I love learning new skills, and I think the experience will help me on my career path.”
Having the experience of being a LiveBetter customer before becoming a LiveBetter staff member gives Abbey an especially unique, first-hand insight into the experience of our customers, adding real depth to our workforce.
“It’s good for LiveBetter to employ someone like me, someone who knows what it’s like to live with a disability. I sit in reception and am the first point of contact for people entering the Bathurst office. People can see that we are a welcoming and inclusive organisation.”
“And I love the work. You meet so many different people – customers, community members and our staff. It’s helped me learn how to deal with different people and different situations. I think it’s given me a better perspective as well.”
Quick questions:
- What is the best thing about your work?
“The people that I work with.”
- What is the most challenging thing about your work?
“Just getting the right adjustments in place – from an access perspective. Working out the best way for me to approach tasks, and what added tech or equipment I might need to complete the tasks successfully.”
- Tip to manage work-life balance?
“Make sure that in the afternoon you do something that’s for you. You’ve got to make sure that you switch off.”
- What keeps you going, getting up and doing it all again, each day?
“The people – I like getting to see the people and the customers each day.”
- Hopes for in the future? Where do you see yourself in five years?
“I would like to move out of home. That’s my biggest goal at the moment. I want to have more independence…but I love it at LiveBetter, and I definitely still want to be working here.”
- If there was one piece of advice you could give to others who are starting out in their careers, particularly for people living with disability, what would it be?
“If an opportunity comes up, and you’re interested – just take it on. Don’t talk yourself down. Just remember, you can do it. It doesn’t matter if you have a disability. Give it a go, you never know what might come of it.”
