It takes a diverse group of people to provide the many types of disability and youth supports we offer at MADEC. In this series we chat with our staff about their roles and spotlight some of the friendly faces in our team! For our first instalment, we had a chat with our Service Support Officers Daniel, Ashli and Donna.
Wrangling rosters, training new Support Workers, and staying on top of our reporting is no easy task and at MADEC we’re lucky to have a fabulous team of Service Support Officers who do just that on a daily basis. As a part of their roles, Daniel, Ashli and Donna provide support to our NDIS Service Coordinators through a range of reporting, training, and rostering duties. It requires a can-do attitude and the ability to problem-solve, with staff availability and support requirements sometimes changing at a moment’s notice.
Describe a day in the life of a Service Support Officer at MADEC?
Daniel: I sign in at 8am and have a morning huddle with Ashli and Donna. We loosely plan our day and get to work with rostering, transferring reports, completing investigations, and assisting our Service Coordinators with outstanding tasks that fall into our scope of practice.
Ashli: A Service Support Officer’s day often starts the day before when we are already planning what we need to catch up on the next day. We prioritize and address urgent issues first and throughout the day we offer rostering assistance, update documentation and collaborate with teams to ensure all our participants receive the best person-centred support. We also assist with training for support workers on new processes and are always working on improving practices. Adaptability and clear communication is key!
Donna: My days start at 7am and start working on rostering emails and shift approvals. Team huddle when rest of the SSO Team arrive then rest of the day is spent filling shifts, reporting, having some laughs, and eating Ashli’s lollies or any chocolate that Administration Officer Leah has in her lolly jar! Love working in such a great office with a team who are all so positive and supportive.
What do you love most about your role?
Daniel: I love being able to assist with a range of different tasks, interacting with support staff and our NDIS participants that come into the MADEC office for a visit. I love our weekly routine that we have and I love how supportive and positive the culture is!
Ashli: Apart from just genuinely enjoying coming to work — the constant learning and challenges keep things interesting!
Donna: Chatting to NDIS participants and Support Workers when they come into the office or on the phone, assisting with rostering, learning new things every day and working for MADEC in general. It’s also a pleasure seeing our participants achieve personal goals and their Support Workers who give so much of themselves to help this come to fruition. I used to be a Support Worker and now working in the office, I have a totally new admiration for our Coordinators and Management as I get to see exactly what goes on to make everything run smoothly!
What‘s your top three bucket list items?
Daniel:
- Open a skin studio with my partner who is a beauty therapist;
- Visit Japan and import a car back to Australia;
- Go for a spin on the Autobahn in Germany!
Ashli:
- Travel to Japan and witness the cherry blossoms in full bloom;
- Change a child’s life through foster care;
- Own a bunch of houses — to help people in need but also just to be able to play around with redesigning houses.
Donna:
- To do a Canadian/Alaskan cruise to see the northern lights;
- Own a property and run cows and horses on it;
- Visit Uluru.
Interested in a career at MADEC?
Check out the available positions below and apply today to join a passionate, dedicated, and capable team.
We encourage people of all ages and abilities to apply, as we are interested in creating more career opportunities for persons with a disability.
