Published on Wednesday 17 February, 2021

Lifestyle Solutions welcomes new Service Specialist, Steve Allen, based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

A qualified and experienced individual with over 30 years’ experience in the community services sector, Steve is passionate about providing quality services that meet the needs of various groups within the community including children, young people and people living with disability.

“From a very young age, I was quite an active young person in my community and represented on the youth advisory council and on the committee with my local council around youth policies and youth advocacy,” said Steve.

Steve says he was inspired by his older sister to work in the community services sector.

“When I was a teenager, my sister was studying community services at university and she would talk to my friends and I about what she was learning. This really encouraged me to develop a strong interest in the sector,” said Steve.

Steve started out working in youth services and spent a number of years with local government and not for profit organisations. For the past 15 years, Steve has worked in the disability services sector.

“I’m very fortunate to have worked in a number of areas within the community services space and each role has enabled me to build on my skills and share these within other areas of the sector.”

Prior to joining Lifestyle Solutions, Steve worked in Victoria. His previous roles include Regional Leader with Mission Australia, State Manager with Job Futures managing a labour market program for young people, and Regional Manager with Scope responsible for therapy services, supported independent living, individual supports and respite care.

“It was a big portfolio, but I loved it and it was a huge learning curve for me. I developed a deeper understanding about person-centred approaches and supports and different levels of complexity around people’s disabilities.”

Steve’s latest role was Project Manager with Alkira assisting them with the rollout of the NDIS practice standards.

Seeking a change from the cold Melbourne winters, Steve decided to move to the Sunshine Coast for a bit of an adventure.

“I have lots of family and friends in Queensland. I’ve spent time holidaying there and also lived in Queensland for a short while when I was in primary school so I already knew I enjoyed the area.”

“When I saw the role for Service Specialist at Lifestyle Solutions, I knew it was meant to be,” said Steve. He moved to Queensland in October 2020 to start his new role. He’s currently focussing on networking and developing our services and supports through capacity building, advocacy and implementing sustainable projects in collaboration with communities.