Milki Desserts

Inclusive Enterprise & Employment Pathways

Milki Desserts is a Social Traders-certified social enterprise operating from Sunny Park Shopping Centre in Sunnybank, Brisbane.

Milki combines a commercially driven hospitality business with genuine paid employment pathways for people who may face barriers to entering or progressing in the workforce.

Our model is simple: customers buy products they genuinely value; stronger trading creates more paid work; paid work builds capability, confidence and current workplace experience; and that experience can support progression into broader employment or further study.

Milki is operated by Progen Innovations Pty Ltd as a for-profit trading business. It is not a charity. Social impact is created through the operation and growth of the business itself.

A commercially driven social enterprise

Milki operates as an independent dessert café serving customers through dine-in, takeaway and delivery, with growing opportunities across celebration products, catering, community and workplace orders, digital pre-ordering and social procurement.

We believe social enterprise works best when the underlying business is strong.

Milki therefore focuses on product quality, customer experience, commercial discipline and sustainable revenue alongside its employment purpose.

The cafe is not a training program with a business attached to it. The operating business itself is the employment pathway.

As customer demand and trading revenue grow, Milki can create more paid shifts, broader workplace responsibilities and additional opportunities for people to build skills and progress.

How commercial growth creates paid work

Milki’s social purpose and commercial model are deliberately connected.

1. Customer demand:

Customers choose Milki for products, service, celebrations, catering and hospitality experiences they value.

2. Trading revenue

Sales provide the revenue and operating stability required to sustain and strengthen the business.

3. Genuine paid work

Trading revenue supports real paid shifts, structured induction, Workplace Coaching, meaningful responsibilities and current Australian workplace references.

4. Progression

Practical skills, workplace confidence and recent experience can help people progress toward greater independence, external employment or further study.

The aim is progression, not long-term dependence on Milki.

Who we aim to support

Milki’s employment pathway may support people who face practical barriers to gaining or sustaining employment, including:

• young people seeking their first meaningful employment opportunity;
• migrants, refugees and humanitarian entrants;
• multilingual jobseekers;
• people with limited Australian workplace experience;
• carers returning to paid employment;
• people whose employment history has been interrupted; and
• other jobseekers who may benefit from a supported first step into a real workplace.

Milki applies a gender responsive and culturally aware approach, recognising that caring responsibilities, workforce interruption, language, workplace confidence, transport and access to suitable hours can affect participation and progression.

Participation is considered case by case, taking into account work rights, role suitability, individual support needs, workplace safety and Milki’s capacity to provide appropriate Workplace Coaching and support.

How the employment pathway works

Milki’s support model is practical and workplace based. Depending on the employee and role, support may include:

• structured induction;
• buddy shifts;
• Workplace Coaching;
• task breakdown and step-by-step instruction;
• workplace communication support;
• regular feedback;
• rostering flexibility;
• confidence and capability development;
• assistance with CVs and current workplace references;
• transport assistance where practical; and
• referral to external services or supports where appropriate.

Employees undertake genuine paid work with real responsibilities.

The café provides a practical environment in which people can develop customer service skills, teamwork, reliability, communication, workplace confidence and broader hospitality capability.

How people enter the pathway

People may connect with Milki through a range of channels, including:

• Workforce Australia and employment-service providers;
• community organisations;
• schools and education providers;
• migrant and multicultural networks;
• informal community and family referrals;
• direct enquiries and walk-ins; and
• other organisations working with people seeking employment pathways.

Eligibility and support needs may be identified through self-identification, intake discussions, referral information, relevant documentation and Milki’s own assessment of role suitability and workplace-support requirements.

Milki seeks to collect only the information necessary to provide appropriate support and measure outcomes responsibly.

What we measure

Milki already records core employment and progression outcomes and is progressively strengthening these into a formal impact measurement framework.

Depending on the reporting period, measures may include:

• Employment Pathway Participants;
• people offered paid employment;
• active supported employees;
• total paid employment hours;
• wages and superannuation paid;
• retention;
• skills and workplace capability developed;
• Workplace Coaching and other support provided;
• progression to external employment;
• progression to education or training;
• employer or education destinations where appropriate; and
• relevant wage subsidies or employment supports received.

Milki only intends to publish impact claims that can be supported by reliable evidence such as payroll, rosters, accounting records, training records, participant records, manager reports and appropriately consented follow-up.

Our aim is not simply to count activity, but to understand whether paid employment is helping people build capability and progress.

Governance and reinvestment

Milki’s operating entity has purpose-led provisions embedded within its constitution.

These provisions commit the business to pursuing commercial viability and growth while also delivering measurable social and community benefit, including employment, training and development opportunities for people facing barriers to work.

The constitution provides that not less than 60% of surplus is to be applied towards purpose, subject to lawful operation, prudent reserves, working-capital requirements and the long-term sustainability of the business.

Purpose-related uses may include:

• staff and participant development;
• supported employment initiatives;
• improvements that strengthen Milki’s social enterprise capability;
• expansion of trading activities that increase social benefit;
• community-aligned initiatives;
• impact measurement and improvement; and
• environmental initiatives that strengthen operational resilience and sustainability.

Milki’s directors are also required to maintain purpose-related records and approve an annual purpose statement addressing how the company pursued its purpose and how surplus was applied, retained, reserved, committed or distributed.

Environmental sustainability

Milki is also working to become a more environmentally responsible hospitality business.

Alongside its employment purpose, the café is progressively incorporating practical sustainability measures into everyday operations, including:

• reducing avoidable waste;
• improving packaging and consumable choices;
• encouraging reuse and recycling;
• considering more responsible sourcing where commercially practical;
• improving stock and wastage management; and
• building employee awareness of environmentally responsible workplace practices.

We see sustainability as part of operating a better business, not as a separate activity. Our approach is to make practical improvements that reduce waste, improve efficiency and strengthen Milki’s long-term commercial and environmental resilience.

Evidence and accountability

Milki maintains an internal evidence framework to support impact measurement, Social Traders certification, funding and investment due diligence, and continuous improvement.

This includes records relating to:

• participant and cohort definitions;
• paid hours and wages;
• workplace support provided;
• skills and capability development;
• progression outcomes;
• employment and education destinations;
• customer and commercial performance; and
• consented participant stories, testimonials and photographs where appropriate.

Public reporting is designed to respect privacy and consent while ensuring that claims about Milki’s impact are supportable, measurable and capable of verification.

The Milki Model

Every customer who chooses Milki helps sustain a real workplace.

Every paid shift creates an opportunity to contribute, learn and develop. Every employee who progresses toward greater independence provides further evidence that a commercially successful business can also create meaningful public benefit.

Our longer-term ambition is not simply to operate an excellent café. It is to demonstrate that commercial success itself can become an engine for opportunity.

Find Us:
Website: Milki Desserts

Follow Us:
Instagram: Milki Desserts (@milki.desserts) • Instagram photos and videos
Facebook: Milki Desserts | Brisbane QLD | Facebook

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