March 2026 news
Australia's social enterprise strategy is being rewritten - and the final version will only be as strong as the voices that shape it.
After almost six months of co-design, we're at a key moment: your feedback on the draft, before it's voted on at our Members' Meeting in late April.
The draft national strategy is ready - tell us what you think
Social Enterprise Australia coordinates the social enterprise national strategy - a sector-led roadmap for diverse people and organisations to align and make big change possible. We’re coming to the end of a six-month process to strengthen the strategy.
Hundreds of people have engaged generously, sharing their insights, ideas and experiences.
The co-design has been a source of hope - people building relationships, learning from each other, finding ways to shape better futures. An antidote to hot takes and polarisation in the wider world.
This survey distils those contributions and conversations into two drafts - the national strategy on a page, and what we mean by each of the five areas where social enterprise can drive the most impact. It also includes priority work, to get to the strategy outcomes. All were developed with the support of Day Four Projects and First Nations consultancy Dinadj. We share them so that you can tell us what you think.
The survey closes at 5pm AEDT on 31 March 2026. It takes 10-15 minutes. If you’re doing the survey on your phone, you’ll need to zoom in on each of the drafts.
Read the draft strategy and tell us what you think
We will finalise the strategy with feedback received, and present the final version for adoption at our Members’ Meeting next month.
Leadership transition at the Board level
We welcomed three new Directors last month.
Rona Puntawe is a transformation strategist, educator and social innovation facilitator who has held governance, leadership and advisory roles across four continents. Todd Nelson is a proud descendant of Dunghutti nation, and a First Nations researcher, innovator and strategist whose work focuses on embedding First Nations perspectives in workforce development, education policy, program design and governance. Tom Grosskopf is a purpose-driven strategist and former public sector executive whose work has spanned public policy, environmental markets, biodiversity conservation, social justice advocacy, urban development and transport planning.
They join Alexie Seller, Belinda Morrissey and David Brookes on the Board.
As we welcome Rona, Todd and Tom, we farewell Alex Hannant. Alex co-led the research on which our work is based, and was central to the development of our work and organisation. We will miss him greatly as a Director; he’s part of the DNA of Social Enterprise Australia.
He also led this long-planned and thoughtful leadership transition; an example of passing the baton with great care and into the hands the organisation needs at this time.
Read more on our Directors and the Social Enterprise Australia team
A rural network takes shape
The call for a national rural social enterprise network has been building for years. It emerged not from a single moment or organisation, but as the culmination of work led by rural entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs live the unique challenges of rural social enterprise, and see the value of connecting place-based networks to each other and to national conversations.
In 2024, the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship (ACRE) and Social Enterprise Network Victoria (SENVIC) called for the co-design of a rural social enterprise network for Australia. It was endorsed by the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) and more than 110 people added their voices to the call.
Building on this, ACRE has now asked Social Enterprise Australia to coordinate the co-design and convene the network - in the same way we do with other national networks and communities of practice.
We’ve said yes to doing this with their support, because we're for a national rural social enterprise network, and for pathways for doing this together.
We'll share more on how to get involved in the co-design as this work develops.
Jess Moore