Since graduating as an Occupational Therapist in 1983, Valmae has worked in the human service field in a range of policy and practice roles across Queensland, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory. Working as a consultant, she created a suite of accredited training for the disability sector, developed a competency based wage system for workers with disability, and designed and implemented a range of organisational development and evaluation projects in both urban and rural and remote Australia.
She is a trained auditor, participatory process practitioner, and accredited facilitator of ABCD. Highlights of her work in recent years has been the engagement of 1500 people around the Blue Skies Vision for an Inclusive Community (2009), coordinating the delivery of numerous state-wide sector development and policy change implementation initiatives, and contributing to a more collaborative culture within the community service sector. Most recently Valmae has managed the delivery of 35, 2-day national workshops to over 550 people with disability, family members, services and members of the community to support them to imagine and plan for the future under the NDIS. Her current focus is on creating the conditions needed for people with disability and their family to navigate the disability service system to get the outcomes they need.