A leap of faith, thirty years after the last classroom

The suggestion came from an unlikely careers adviser: her husband's 89-year-old grandmother. Therese Maloney, a Mossman local with three sons and years of hospitality and tourism behind her, had been quietly thinking about a change anyway.

The last time Therese had studied was 1991, which made the first step the hardest one. "I was a bit nervous about joining," she says, "but I stuck my head into the classroom and it was a nice bunch of ladies of varying ages and cultural backgrounds."

The structure helped: classes ran Thursdays and Fridays during school hours, which made study workable around family. "Knowing I had to physically be there on a Thursday and Friday was ideal."

The interest, it turned out, had been there all along. "I've always been interested in working with people with disabilities or learning difficulties. I struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia growing up, two of my kids have dyslexia and my nephew has learning and development challenges."

Therese completed her Certificate III in Individual Support in 2019, including 120 hours of placement: forty in aged care with palliative clients, the rest in disability community work. The placement became a paid community care position. A year later she was back for the Certificate IV in Disability.

"We had a really good support system set up by Far North Training, with extra help from the trainer if we needed it."

"This industry wasn't an area I'd ever really considered looking into, but I took a leap of faith and I'm really happy I did. It worked out well."

Considering the same leap? The current pathway is the CHC33021 Certificate III in Individual Support, then the CHC43121 Certificate IV in Disability Support. Both are subsidised for eligible Queenslanders. Call 07 4098 1228.