Shae was thoughtful, supportive, smart,and independent with a strong sense of justice. Born in Brisbanein October 1986, the youngest of the three Gibson kids, Shae was a much-loved daughter and cute baby sister.
From an early age, Shae exerted her independence and stood her ground.
Shae formed lifelong friendships with almost everyone she met throughout her life, from pre-school to her last job as a project Manager at the NSW Council for Intellectual Disability. Everywhere she went, strong bonds were developed which have lasted ever since.
Shae attended Belmont State School and Cavendish Road State High School and graduated with an Arts degree from the University of Queensland.
She had a natural talent for public speaking. Her leadership abilities were first recognized by her friends, and later by her peers and teachers when she became school captain in Year 12. At the school formal Shae was voted most likely to be prime minister.
Her strong values and views about the world resulted in some fierce debates with her family and friends over the years.
When Shae thought someone was being unjust, insensitive, or prejudiced in any way, she was there to stand up for those being spoken against. It was this rational, intelligent, egalitarian view which made Shae a great counselor, advocate and friend.
Shae always had an interest in the world. Following the completion of her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Queensland, she worked full-time at Australian Geographic to save for a 4 month world trip. She had only just turned 21 when she went off to India, the UK, Egypt, Cambodia and Thailand, including visiting the birthplace and grave site of her idol Mahatma Gandhi.
After these world travels, Shae was accepted into the competitive Queensland Government Graduate program, where she made a rapid progression to senior policy advisor in Disability & Community Services. Her career choice was driven by her desire to make a difference but she became frustrated with the bureaucracy, and moved to Sydney to complete a Masters in Community Development. During these studies, she also worked as a Community Development Officer in Redfern and represented Australia at an International Conference on Refugees in Geneva. Her first position after completing the Masters was in the International Volunteer Program, working as Gender Advocacy Officer for twelve months in a women’s refuge in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Shae’s strong values dominated her desire for her life to have meaning, to make a direct and positive impact on the lives of others, to effect change in real and tangible ways.
A great example of this was her work for three years at the NSW Council for Intellectual Disability, in the program, “My Choice Matters”. Shae was assisting people to navigate through the new NDIS. She continued to work there whilst undergoing Chemotherapy, and with the help of her colleagues, secured significant additional government funding and managed a number of projects.
Last year despite her poor health, Shae did a lot of travel with her friends. She visited New Zealand, Far North Queensland, Tasmania, Melbourne, Uluru and managed to fit in a family road trip with her sister Brodie, brother-in-law Bernie, her Mum, Ann to Dubbo Western Plains Zoo.
Throughout her life, Shae considered others first and was always thinking of other people’s needs. Even in her last weeks of life, her focus was on what others needed, how she could assist them or support them, rather than her own battle with cancer. This is how the Shae Gibson Women’s Cancer Support Fund came into being. It was her initiative, in her final days, to ask her family to establish this with half her estate and seek other donations to make it sustainable.