Submissions
A budget to unlock the impact of social enterprise
2024-2025 Pre-budget submission
January 2024
Australia faces social, environmental and economic challenges that demand new, expanded, and joined-up responses. The social enterprise sector can help. Social enterprises combine the power of business to resource and test new ideas with a compass of public good. This makes them a critical tool for social and environmental innovation.
But change is needed to unlock their full potential.
The Government is already investing in parts of this change. We recommend that the Government consolidates its efforts through the development of a Commonwealth Social Enterprise Strategy and further investment:
Powered by a partnership between the Sector, the Government, and others
Underpinned by certification and evidence
Including social procurement, impact investment, outcome payments, and capability-building
Jobs through social enterprise
Submission to the inquiry into Workforce Australia employment services
August 2023
Work integration social enterprises (WISEs) exist to provide employment opportunities for people shut out of work. They unlock better outcomes than mainstream employment services for people experiencing significant disadvantage, particularly long-term employment outcomes.
However, while the federal government pays employment service providers and employers for their role in tackling unemployment, as it involves costs, this funding has largely not been available to WISEs. This has hampered their ability to sustain, scale, and to maximise the role they play.
Further, WISEs do not fit well within the current employment services system because the design features of WISEs do not align with it. In addition, while work is put forward as the way out of poverty, poverty itself is often a barrier to work. Yet unemployment benefits are below the poverty line.
We recommend that future employment services be designed towards the goal of access to decent work for all, and be supported by unemployment payments that sit above the poverty line. Further, we recommend that payments to deliver employment outcomes be made available to social enterprises. We see these payments being co-designed, and underpinned by innovation zones, data, and social enterprise certification.
Grow social innovation through social enterprise
Submission to the inquiry into promoting economic dynamism, competition and business formation
April 2023
Economic dynamism, competition and business formation - even the economy itself - are not ends but means. They provide ways to fulfil purpose. This submission says that the main purpose of our economy should be social and environmental wellbeing.
Social enterprises innovate using a compass of public benefit. They create employment opportunities for people most shut out of work, provide care for people and the planet, deepen democracy and social connection, and address product or service gaps, particularly in disadvantaged communities and thin markets.
However, the social enterprise sector is currently held back due to fragmentation, under-representation, and being underserved.
We seek a social enterprise national strategy to change this; one powered by a partnership between the sector and Government. We see this being underpinned by data and certification. Dependent on these things, we also see it incorporating social procurement, access to finance, outcome payments, and capability building.
Other submissions
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A budget to unlock the impact of social enterprise.
Australia faces social, environmental and economic challenges that demand new responses. The social enterprise sector can help. However, the sector is currently held back due to fragmentation, under-representation, and being underserved. As a result, it is not realising its latent potential. Because social enterprise sits between traditional business and charity, many fall through the gaps in the support infrastructures that exist for the two sectors. It does the job of both without the enablers of either. We seek a social enterprise national strategy to change this; one informed and powered by a partnership between the sector and Government.
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We welcome the Federal Government’s stated commitment to measuring what matters. It can help put the wellbeing of all people, places and the planet at the heart of decision-making. It can support social innovation - new ways to tackle big shared challenges.
We recommend that the Government:
Collect data to see and locate disadvantage
Build capability and tools within Government, and at the action level
Share data that can support work to improve wellbeing and inform innovation
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Work integration social enterprises (WISEs) exist to provide employment opportunities for people shut out of work. They unlock better outcomes than mainstream employment services for people experiencing significant disadvantage, particularly long-term employment outcomes.
To better enable WISEs to grow this impact, we recommend the Federal Government:
Pay WISEs to deliver outcomes
Establish a Federal social procurement framework that names and puts targets to
Buying from social enterprise
Enhance access to capital for WISEs
Use social enterprise certification
Co-design, test and learn from these enablers with the social enterprise sector
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Social enterprise has been a ‘best-kept secret’ for far too long.
Our best opportunity to grow the profile of the sector is to work collaboratively – by speaking in the same voice at the same time. That’s why a group of marketing experts from across the social enterprise sector volunteered their time to launch a campaign. It's designed to profile and promote social enterprise. It includes copy, social media graphics and a video. It's designed for people across the sector to use.