On the up and up

There’s an honesty and a directness about Selin Renchi that is refreshing.

“I came to Australia for a better future,” says the Senior Care Manager at Uniting AgeWell Manor Lakes Community in Melbourne’s west. “There are so many more opportunities here for nurses than back home in India.”

She is forging ahead in her career, working in an environment she enjoys and feeling supported by Uniting AgeWell, which champions inclusion.

During Harmony Week we’re celebrating the cultural diversity of our staff with a clear message that we welcome all, and that everyone belongs.

Selin was raised in Bangalore and knew as a little girl that she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a nurse. She did her Degree in Nursing, and worked in dialysis in a Bangalore hospital for a few years. A few of the staff there had applied to work in Australia and Selin decided to follow suit. She arrived in Australia in 2018, did her three month bridging program and sat an exam to register as a nurse here.

“I started doing agency work, working in a hospital as well as aged care,” Selin explains. “And the more I worked in aged care, the more I enjoyed it. I loved the holistic care and being able to see the residents every day.”

She took up a number of roles in aged care, rising up the ranks before joining Uniting AgeWell in July 2022 as a Senior Care Manager.

“There are wonderful opportunities at Uniting AgeWell,” says Selin. “They always promote education and training and invest in ‘growing you’ to become the best version of yourself. I’m pretty excited to be growing my managerial skills.”

Selin recently graduated with the inaugural cohort of Uniting AgeWell’s BEST Operational and Emerging Leaders Course, with CEO Andrew Kinnersly saying “the program exemplifies our commitment to employee development and the nurturing of potential within our organisation.”

Selin is also very happy on the home front too. She met her husband –an engineer from India – in Australia, and they have a one-year-old son, Adam. She loves cooking traditional Indian food, and intends for Adam to speak both English and her native Malayalam.

“Australia is home now,” she says. “We’re here to stay!”