Assisted Living and Aged Care

Lachlan Urquhart is a bubbly, 23-year-old who hasn’t let his intellectual disability, autism or bad vision set him back. He lives in Armidale, in New South Wales’ northern tablelands. Lachlan came to OCTEC Armidale in January 2023, when his parents thought it would be nice for him to be part of the community as much as possible. At least volunteering in a position was the aim.

He does keep busy with a few interests, including his love of NRL and aircraft. So much so Lachlan volunteers with aerial agricultural company Superair at the local airport each week. He likes to travel with his carer to Canberra airport, stay nearby and watch the planes take off and land.

Lachlan now works eight hours a week as an operations team member in the nursery at Bunnings Armidale, along with two other participants as a result of networking by OCTEC Workforce Development Coordinator, Shaun O’Cass and Store Manager Jason Hegner. Bunnings is an inclusive employer with a diverse team, which is important to our culture. We’re mindful in the way that we recruit, but always seek to ensure they find the right people for the right roles within our business, particularly for candidates with a disability where they have specific needs and skillsets.Lachlan’s engaging personality, friendliness and genuine enjoyment of talking with people helped him to excel in his job interview, and now in his role.

Given his intellectual disability and vision issues, he has an NDIS support worker attend each shift to stays safe and on task.

High-spirited Lachlan is very social and loves talking with many different people, especially his Career Consultant Donna Uphill when she visits him at work. He appreciates the chance to show her around the garden section he maintains.

Bunnings Armidale has hired two other OCTEC participants and is thrilled to have them as part of the team.

The experience here in New England is part of the strong relationship OCTEC has with Bunnings.