Delegate Tonya Walker

Your HACSU workplace delegate

TONYA WALKER

Disability Support Worker Multicap Tasmania

I WORK a lot of awake shifts from 10pm to 6am, and my average night consists of spending time with one or two of the four participants in the group house I'm in as the others are usually already in bed.

We play games, listen to music or watch TV then I assist them with night time medications and getting into bed, then do the cleaning and other tasks that fill my shift. I've been in the disability sector and with Multicap Tasmania for over a year now, and I also did a short stint with Possability. Before that I was a security officer working for a few different companies and did a variety of different tasks in the field, such as thermo testing for COVID-19, and I still hold my security license. I've been a HACSU member since beginning work with Multicap Tasmania and shortly thereafter became a delegate. As a delegate, I've been able to get more people to join the union once they've had the benefits explained and learned what the union can do for everyone. I've been to all but one of the delegate meetings and strive to make a real difference in the workplace and for everyone who joins. My hopes for the workplace in the future are to have a great rate of pay, a place where everyone feels like part of a team working together instead of bickering and favouritism and, most importantly, the safety and well-being of all participants and staff. There are many things I like to do when not at work such as diamond dot art, reading, scrapbooking and spending valuable time with my gorgeous family. My current favourite song is After You by Megan Trainor, favourite film of all time is The Green Mile by Stephen King and I have many favourite books but am currently reading The Ackerman Series by Ethan Cross which is fantastic but not for the faint-hearted! I'm super passionate about animals and have a brindle 2 year old American Staffy named Charlie who is a big boy who loves to eat. I also have two female cats – Tessa is 10 and has always been an outside cat and Ally is 8 and likes to spend her time inside and gets her bum wiped with baby wipes! I used to own six wolves: arctic wolf Merlin, arctic tundra wolf Kiara, grey timber wolf Lady Gray, two black and sable British Columbian timber wolves whose names I forget, and a grey timber wolf mixed with Siberian husky called Knight Hawke. I also had a raccoon named Bandit and an arctic fox named Snowy. They weren't the only animals in my lifetime, but they are the ones that had the most impact.