TasTAFE Community Services graduate Rachael Shackcloth is giving back to her community

TasTAFE Community Services graduate Rachael Shackcloth at Alanvale Campus.

When Rachael Shackcloth’s husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2022, the community services sector gave her family the support they needed. Now Rachael is a TasTAFE Community Services graduate and is giving something back to her community.

Rachael will celebrate completing her Certificate III in Community Services course at TasTAFE’s March 2026 graduation ceremonies – marking the end of a rewarding year of study at Alanvale Campus in Launceston.

Now, Rachael has started work with National Joblink in Launceston as a mentor in their Parent Pathways program – an Australian Government initiative providing practical and financial support to parents with young children, as they look to re-enter the workforce.

Rachael has also re-enrolled at TasTAFE in 2026 to study a Certificate IV in Community Services, building on the skills she developed through 2025 – learning to take a trauma-informed, culturally safe and person-centred approach to direct support, advocacy and interventions.

At the end of 2025, things are looking up for Rachael and her family – but just a few years ago, their lives were thrown into in disarray.

“My family suffered a major loss when my husband, my children's father, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in 2022,” Rachael said. “He lost his battle in March 2024, which knocked our family to its knees.”

As Rachael and her family struggled to cope with her husband’s illness, the support they received from community services providers made a huge difference.

“The people that came into our home – the people that helped my husband, the people that helped my family – were wonderful,” Rachael said. “And I thought, ‘What a rewarding career that would be.’ ”

Later in 2024, Rachael saw an advertisement for the Certificate III in Community Services program at TasTAFE, and the possibility of a new career pathway opened up: “That's what I want to do,” Rachael thought at the time, “– I want to give back.”

Rachael was also motivated by her children – wanting to prove to them that even though some circumstances were beyond their control, their ability to construct a new life for themselves was within their reach.

“I wanted to show our children that anything is possible with hard work and determination – and although our lives and futures were nothing like we imagined, we could rebuild and create a new future full of possibilities,” Rachael said.

“TasTAFE supported me from Day 1. I enrolled to do the Study Start program because it had been some time since I'd studied. Coming in and doing the course gave me the instruments I needed to learn how to set-up programs and to how to store files and things like that ... I knew I was in the right spot."

Once she commenced her Certificate III studies, Rachael found that her teachers valued the fact that she was a mature-age learner who could bring real-world experience to the classroom.

“They allowed me to trust my instincts and saw that my lived experiences were just as important as the things I was learning. They believed in me even when I didn't at times, and that in turn made my self-worth flourish,” Rachael said.

Highlights of Rachael’s Certificate III studies included coordinating a community ‘paint a flowerpot’ session – acquiring donations for supplies, advertising and event logistics – and role-plays with other learners, in which Rachael’s career ambitions crystalised.

“During the role-plays I realised that this was the path that I wanted to choose … talking about situations and realising where I could help, and where my lived experience might come into play.”

Life for Rachael hasn’t turned out like she’d planned – but at TasTAFE she’s taking what she knows, adding new skills, and building a different future for herself, her family and her community.

“I have been raising a family for 30 years, working hard to put food on the table and have a roof over our heads. But this next chapter is for me to discover what I want to be. It's not about a pay packet anymore – it's about making a difference,” Rachael said.

“TasTAFE has taught me that I am resilient and to trust my capabilities. This is only the beginning.”

Read more about Community Services at TasTAFE.

TasTAFE’s Certificate II, III and IV in Community Services courses are available as part of Fee-Free TAFE in 2026: read more here.