Eighty9 Limited proudly announces inaugural Edith Thew RISE Award winner.

Named in honour of Edith Thew, one of our longest-standing staff members and a dedicated Foundation Skills Team Leader, the RISE Award recognises individuals who exemplify our core values of Respect, Integrity, Service, and Empowerment.

We are thrilled to announce the first-ever recipient of this prestigious award is Sue Bashford-Rankin!

Sue is an Employment Consultant in our Disability Employment Services (DES) team, based in Western Australia. She is well known for her consistent efforts to support Participants through creative and compassionate strategies—from cultural celebrations to mindful art and visits to local libraries. Her commitment to personalised support has helped countless individuals overcome barriers and move closer to meaningful employment.

This award caps off a standout year for Sue, who was also named a finalist in the Disability Employment Australia Practitioner of the Year awards.

Sue's team commemorated her outstanding impact with these words:

“𝘚𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.”

“𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴.”

“𝘚𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦-𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.”
“𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘚𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦.”

Eighty9 Limited Executive Chairman, Gary, reflected on meeting Sue:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭. 𝘐 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢, 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴.”

“𝘚𝘶𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 - 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵.”

To celebrate the occasion, Sue was joined by her team and managers for a morning tea at Status Clarkson, where she was presented with a commemorative plaque, certificate, and all-inclusive bonus.

Sue's influence on participants, colleagues, and the broader Disability Employment Services network is both profound and inspiring. She truly embodies the spirit of the RISE Award.

From the entire Eighty9 Limited team: Congratulations, Sue, on an extraordinary year and well-earned recognition!

𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘄 𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗡𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝘀
• Ajeew Imrit
• Alex Kerr
• Allison Schwer
• Bethany Baxter
• Ebony Saunders
• Esther Macie
• Grace Gagulich
• Hamish Robertson
• Iain Fisher
• Isaac Moore
• Louise Tomaselli
• Mandy Gardner
• Mark Fernandes
• Nudrat Sadab
• Rebecca Carletti
• Ruth Vigor
• Sherilee Phillips
• Sue Bashford-Rankin
• Wendy Krantis