Hamlet: changing lives with every order
Emily Briffa was volunteering in her brother’s social enterprise cafe in Melbourne when she became hooked on the concept that something as simple as buying a coffee could change lives and communities.
Later, she moved to Tasmania as a trained chef, and saw an opportunity for a social enterprise to tackle unemployment among Australia’s highest rates of people with disability, and respond to a skills shortage in the tourism and hospitality industry.
Today, almost ten years later, her social enterprise cafe Hamlet in Hobart has delivered more than 53,000 hours of targeted training and work readiness support to 765 Tasmanians with disability, neurodivergence and mental health concerns who face barriers to employment.
The team at Hamlet meets people where they’re at, providing access to support including adult literacy sessions and digital inclusion workshops, and connection to work placements. Hamlet has expanded and diversified its business offering from a cafe to catering and retailing, to build financial sustainability.
As part of its commitment to the social enterprise movement, Hamlet has recently joined both The Social Enterprise Collective of Tasmania and Social Enterprise Australia as a Member.
”Social enterprises need clear definitions, models and greater recognition, to unlock their potential,” Emily says.
“We want to work with our state and national social enterprise peak bodies to create a pathway for that, and to be involved in advocacy and policy work at state and federal levels.”
Social enterprises in Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory can apply to join both Social Enterprise Australia and their state/ territory peak body through a single application, at no extra cost.
