Laura Grace Grimes
Evanston South,SA
Summary
Dynamic and compassionate professional with a background in disability support, transitioning to pursue a lifelong passion for horticulture and plant care. Deeply knowledgeable about various plant species, common pests, and diseases, my goal is to bring expertise to a retail plant shop environment. Experience in disability work has honed communication and interpersonal skills, enabling effective engagement with customers, understanding their needs, and providing personalized plant care advice. Committed to fostering a welcoming and knowledgeable atmosphere, while continually learning more about horticulture. Ready to inspire and assist fellow plant enthusiasts, aiming to share love for plants while helping customers cultivate their green dreams.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
Work History
Support Coordinator
Empowering Community Health and Wellbeing
04.2024 - Current
- Actively supporting participants in navigating the complexities of the NDIS, ensuring they understand their rights and options, and advocating on their behalf to access appropriate services and supports
- Collaborating with participants, their families, and service providers to develop and implement individualized support plans that align with each participant's goals and needs
- Assisting clients in identifying and accessing necessary funding and services, maintaining ongoing communication with stakeholders to ensure effective service delivery
- Empowering participants by developing their skills and confidence in managing their NDIS plans, fostering independence and choice in their daily lives
- Proactively address and resolve issues related to service delivery, funding disputes, or participant dissatisfaction, ensuring a high standard of service is consistently delivered
- Maintain accurate records of participant progress, meetings, and service agreements, ensuring compliance with NDIS standards and confidentiality requirements
- Foster strong relationships with local service providers and community organizations, promoting a holistic approach to participant engagement and support
- Proactively staying up-to-date with NDIS legislation, policies, and best practices to provide the highest quality of support and remain responsive to the evolving needs of participants through continuous professional development.
NDIS SLES Employment Support Officer
Maxima
12.2022 - 12.2023
- Working 1:1 with young people with a disability of school leaving age in a NDIS funded program
- This program runs for 2 years, and I am responsible for the intake of new clients, managing a full-time case load (34 hours a week of specialised support with my customer base) and creating and monitoring customer appointments, with a strong focus on timely and accurate documentation and billing of sessions to the NDIA
- SLES (School Leaver Employment Supports) focuses on building soft skills, interpersonal skills, building confidence and organising anything and everything my customers may need to have the skills needed to enter further education, volunteer work, or the workplace
- This can include anything from transport training, assisting with applying for Centrelink Payments, social engagement, industry tasters, coordinating volunteer work, creating resumes, liaising, and creating a network of employers, community centres and local NDIS providers
- I assist with everything from applying for a bank account, navigating Government Agencies, registering for a Drivers Licence, study support, learning cash handling skills, effective decision making, adjusting to different and unfamiliar environments, social engagement, building confidence in all areas and discovering their own individual interests and how to take the steps needed to reach their goals, big and small
- I also pick up and drop off most of my customers before and after our sessions
- I work primarily with young people with ADHD and ASD
- I thrive on looking “outside the box” with my sessions and really meeting my customers where they are currently at
- I have an innate way of making my customers at ease and building instant, genuine rapport
- I work with the unique aspects and needs of each customer and create achievable goals in a flexible, trusting, and enjoyable setting
- This is a very collaborative role
- I liaise with Support Workers, Psychosocial Workers, families and both internal and external NDIS staff to ensure the most effective and successful outcomes.
Complaints Officer
NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission
06.2022 - 10.2022
- Complaint resolution and handling with a focus on negotiation and risk identification
- Using complex legislation and policy to make sound judgements and quality decisions
- Assist with complaints triage and accurate record keeping
- In addition, we assist with prioritising existing and new complaints and associated documentation
- Assisting with handling complaints from beginning to end, including record creation, phone contact, outgoing correspondence, and making appropriate decisions surrounding complaints resolution and closure
- Working with a diverse socio-economic customer base and using strong customer service skills to explain difficult outcomes and decisions
- Resolving often-complex complaints through evaluating evidence and making non-biased decisions, or assisting in the complaints resolution process
- Writing quality and comprehensive documentation requires high-level writing and oral skills
- Working within changing priorities while managing my own caseload
- Showing a strong level of resilience and adaptability, while taking responsibility for individual health and safety
- Comprehensive record keeping
- Understanding legislation and policy, as well as processes and guidelines.
Integrated Care Officer
Department of Human Services - Child Support Agency
02.2016 - 01.2018
- Analysing and interpreting complex information and evidence from various sources and across platforms to make sound decisions
- Use judgement to make informed decisions based on individual customers' circumstances
- Interdepartmental case management of complex nature, including sensitive welfare issues and challenging customer behaviours
- Working with a diverse socio-economic customer base and using strong customer service skills to explain difficult outcomes and decisions
- Resolving complex customer complaints through building rapport in difficult and complex situations
- This is done while maintaining a very high caseload and assisting others on my team.
Mainstream Customer Service Officer
Department of Human Services - Child Support Agency
12.2011 - 02.2016
- Investigated and resolved customer enquiries in a time-sensitive work area with a high degree of accuracy
- Developing complex decision-making, negotiation and investigative skills including consultation with external agencies and inter-departmental stakeholders
- Negotiating complex debt negotiation and repayment, which often involved a high degree of investigation and customer contact
- Applying well-honed customer service skills to obtain positive customer outcomes while maintaining a high caseload
- Working with a highly diverse customer base with sensitive enquiries and issues.
Customer Service Advisor & Technical Support Officer
Department of Human Services - Family Assistance Office and Centrelink
01.2007 - 12.2011
- Facilitated inter-departmental communication to effectively resolve or escalate program and policy matters and provided appropriate employee support with complex decision-making
- Delivered quality audits and observations of staff members to identify coaching and development opportunities
- Provided advice and support to staff to continuously improve service levels, general knowledge and mitigate risk situations
- Taking complex customer complaint calls regarding technical system or legislative issues and explaining outcomes to both customers and staff
- Taking sensitive calls from customers from a diverse background and updating records according to customer needs and legislation, which required exemplary customer service skills
- Working in an ever-changing environment with changing legislation, customer needs and requirements from the government of the day.
Education
Skillsoverview
I can assess complex information, provide strategic advice, and make sound and informed decisions. I am committed to evidence-based and detail-oriented decision-making with a focus on evaluating potential risks or knowing when to escalate to a superior staff member. I have highly developed and extremely well-honed customer service skills, communication, and negotiation skills, particularly in sensitive and process driven workplaces. I have the ability to handle complaints or difficult situations with resilience, respect and deliver non-favourable information. I am committed to consultation, appropriate delegation and engagement with team members and stakeholders to ensure effective practice in my role. I am also committed to quality service delivery within time sensitive deadlines. I can manage competing workloads and cases with precision and accuracy. I also have a high level of experience in project planning. This includes developing timelines, accurate record keeping, following proper processes; and working within, and consistently achieving KPIs. I have experience in a wide variety of team roles, including customer service, processing, leadership, as well as technical assistance. I can switch from a variety of tasks to another and focus on helping my team with issues that need prioritizing. I am a respected and well-liked team member and can work autonomously or within a team.
References
To be supplied on request.
Timeline
Support Coordinator
Empowering Community Health and Wellbeing
04.2024 - Current
NDIS SLES Employment Support Officer
Maxima
12.2022 - 12.2023
Complaints Officer
NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission
06.2022 - 10.2022
Integrated Care Officer
Department of Human Services - Child Support Agency
02.2016 - 01.2018
Mainstream Customer Service Officer
Department of Human Services - Child Support Agency
12.2011 - 02.2016
Customer Service Advisor & Technical Support Officer
Department of Human Services - Family Assistance Office and Centrelink
01.2007 - 12.2011