WorkVentures

WorkVentures is a non-profit organisation dedicated to building a just, creative and sustainable society. Unemployed and disadvantaged people are our priority. Founded by members of a Christian parish, we have a diverse workforce and client base, an inclusive ethos and non-descriminatory policies. Our services are conducted in partnership with commercial, community and government organisations.

Our main activities are employment and learning services, electronic repairs, community development and IT/communications. We employ approximately 200 people at seven sites in Sydney and one in Melbourne. Our annual turnover exceeds $16 million.

Employment and Learning Services, with branches at three Sydney locations, provides unemployed and disadvantaged job seekers with intensive assistance. This includes career counselling, skills assessment, volunteer work placements, vocational and job search training and job placement. Our training services include:

• WorkVentures Vocational Training Services
   

• Workventures Group Training Company – recruiting and employing trainees who are contracted to employers for a twelve month period of training and learning on the job
   

• WorkVentures Information Technology Training, self-paced computer courses
   

• We are a Registered Training Organisation for Business Administration and Information Technology.

Sydney ITeC Repair Centre (SIRC) is a high volume electronics repair and recycling business. Our clients include major IT companies such as NCR, Fujitsu and IBM. Our expertise includes ATM, power supply, retail, monitor, printer and banking product repair. We have trained many people in the electronics/IT industry. With an Australia-wide client base and a branch in Melbourne (MIRC), we are starting to expand internationally.

WorkVentures Connect operates Neighbourhood Technology Centres on public housing estates. Together with the Department of Housing, we will establish ten Connect Centres in the inner city and south-western Sydney. The first four are at Claymore, Macquarie Fields, Waterloo and Woolloomooloo. Many people at risk of social exclusion now have access to all the opportunities that the computer-literate take for granted.

WorkVentures Connect (IT) is a computer reuse project. We refurbish decommissioned computers for clients in the non-profit sector and disadvantaged individuals and communities.

Liverpool Community Network Academy, a specialised IT training program formed n partnership with Liverpool Council and Cisco Systems Australia, empowers people living in south-west Sydney who wish to upgrade their IT skills and build careers.

Structure and Values

WorkVentures is a non-profit company limited by guarantee. The organisation was established in 1979 and incorporated in 1984. Details appear on our Timeline. We are committed to social development and the empowerment of disadvantaged people. We ensure quality and continuous improvement through international Quality standards.

We achieve economic, environmental and social sustainability thought creative approaches and a focus on individuals. WorkVentures is a national leader in Social Enterprise. In more than 25 years of operation, there have been many trailblazing projects. In 2004, WorkVentures Chief Executive Steve Lawrence was NSW/ACT Entrepreneur of the Year in the non-profit category. In 2005 WorkVentures and its partner Microsoft Australia won the Prime Minister’s Business Community Partnerships award for Longevity.