Valued Lives
Innovative Employment
We encourage you to think about alternative pathways to work that align to your talents, passions, interests and timeframes.


We believe everyone has the right to work and should have access to flexible and tailored supports to enable you to build capacity and skills to gain meaningful employment.
We specialise in using a customised employment approach to support you to develop your own Microenterprise or discover what work looks like for you after school.
Find out more about starting your own Microenterprise at our website.

A collage of pictures of businesses that have been set up as part of Valued Lives Innovative Employment project
Microenterprise
We can support you to start your own small business, aligning it with your passions and skills.
This may look like:
- Linking you with an Innovative Employment Advisor
- Discovering your passions and building your microenterprise around what you love to do
- Creating a business plan
- Supporting you to secure suitable seed funding
- Providing important opportunities for capacity-building and market research such as networking events and market sales opportunities
… and much more!
School Leaver Employment Supports
We can support school leavers by providing individualised capacity building and skill development, which focuses on experience opportunities for young people using our tried and tested model.
We can support you to:
- Identify your interests and skills
- ‘Test and Try’ complementary work experience in a range of workplace settings
- Gain individualised capacity-building opportunities
- Explore further training and development
Job Carving
We can support you to identify what meaningful employment looks like for you, aligning with your passions skills and interests.
This may look like:
- Linking you with an Innovative Employment Advisor
- ‘Test and Try’ complementary work experience in a range of workplace settings
- Discovering your passions and working with employers to carve a role around what you love to do
- Supporting you on the job
School to Employment Pathways Project
With thanks to a grant from the Department of Communities, the School to Employment Pathways Project uses established models of support to work with students, their families and the wider school community to create opportunities for students to explore employment and microenterprise opportunities as part of their transition from school life.
We are:
- Co-designing activities that build confidence and capacity
- Supporting students and their families to dream big about life after school
- Supporting students and families to build strong community connections and opportunities for inclusion
- Supporting the community, potential employers and local government to develop opportunities for young people to obtain sustainable, meaningful employment
Visit the Innovative Employment website
You can visit the Innovative Employment website by clicking here.
You can also contact our Innovative EmploymentProject Team about the Innovative Employment project directly on 1800 844 933 or by emailing info@valuedlives.org.au.

Jane shows off one of the paintings she created through her Innovative Employment J.I. Artwork