Supported Living Lab Internship

Our second cohort of interns graduated from the Northcott Innovation (NI) Supported Living Lab Internship program in September 2023. This unique learning opportunity offers Northcott support workers a chance to learn human-centred design skills while contributing to better outcomes for customers who live in our disability homes and the staff who support them.

Northcott’s innovation subsidiary NI works alongside customers and people with disability to find ways to do things better or solve challenges in the disability sector. One of the team’s initiatives is the Supported Living Lab (SL/Lab). This co-design hub is focused on improving the quality of supports and services provided to Northcott customers living in our homes.

In 2022, NI launched the SL/Lab Internship Program for support workers from our disability homes. An enthusiastic group of frontline workers from across NSW participated in the inaugural internship, and the second cohort will complete their internship later in 2023.

Over 7 months, interns learn skills in communication, problem solving and human-centred design from experts and educators from Northcott and the disability sector. Additionally, through a partnership with the University of Technology Sydney’s School of Design, they gain skills in design thinking and the design process. Each participant brings a challenge to the group that they believe, if solved, will positively impact the lives of customers. Over the course of the internship, participants put their new skills to use to explore and develop a solution to their issue before pitching their idea to the NI Board. Solutions with the potential to make a difference to customers and/or staff are adopted by NI and Northcott for further development and, down the track, implementation.

Our 2023 Interns

EVELYN

“I have gained an understanding of and experience in Human Centred Service design, which puts customers’ needs, desires and abilities at the centre of the development process.”

RANJEETA

“I have enjoyed learning how to identify problems, how to choose strategies to address the issues and how to plan and execute the tactics needed to achieve customers’ goals.”

SOFIA

“I’ve enjoyed hearing and experiencing how to work with others. It’s been good making new friends as it is hard to find others because we all work in small groups.”

BERNARD

“I am walking away with knowledge I can apply at work and in my lifetime experiences. I am not the same guy who started at the beginning of the program. I have grown and am proud of my educators and myself.”

KUMBA

“I found it interesting having people with lived experience of disability educate us about their experiences and the ways we can support them better. I also enjoyed the UTS session … and having the opportunity to meet members of Northcott who shared their work experiences.”

 MITUL

“This has given me the opportunity to think outside the box, learn from my own experiences, identify problems and find solutions. It has enabled me to be a changemaker and stand up for customer voice and choice.”