April 2026 news
Hundreds of people across our ecosystem - many with lived experience - have helped shape an updated social enterprise national strategy. It was developed through a co-design process that included six workshops and two surveys over the last six months.
A vote on the strategy at our first ever Members' Meeting on 29 April is the final step in the co-design process, and the start of acting on the new strategy together.
We’ll share more on the strategy in the lead up to the meeting to help bring it to life: the context and reasons for it, more detail on each impact area, and how people and organisations can get involved. Stay tuned for updates in this newsletter.
Read the draft updated strategy here
Read more on our Members' Meeting here
Changes after a year of learning
In every state and territory in Australia and nationally, we have member-based social enterprise peak bodies. Together, we exist to connect, build and advocate for the sector.
This enables social enterprises and others in the sector to move between local and national - to be connected, supported and represented at all levels.
It's the why behind reciprocal membership: aligned eligibility criteria and a single membership application and fee, so joining one peak body means being connected to the broader network.
A number of peak bodies have been working on this. We started reciprocal membership with Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania - and the Northern Territory joined later.
It’s been great, and it’s been tough. Great because we’ve been building with a clear purpose and deepening relationships with an excellent group of people - testing, learning and iterating together. Tough because doing something new is messy and, because we all operate differently with different systems, it's been complex. For the teams involved in building it, at both state and national levels, it has taken significant time and energy.
After a year of learning together, we are making two changes:
Eligibility criteria for Social Enterprise Members will remain aligned across all peaks involved (Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory). But rather than requiring People and Planet First verification, we will use the global standards as the foundation for our own due diligence, with organisations required to meet minimum requirements and primarily trade. There is no change to the criteria for Associate Members.
Single membership fee and application will continue for people and organisations based in the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Members based elsewhere will need to apply (or renew) and pay separately for state and national peak body membership. This reflects different local operational needs and contexts.
We continue to explore a range of ways to deepen alignment and collaboration with all Australian peak bodies.
Read more on our membership page
New report on philanthropy in social enterprise
Shaping & Fuelling Change is a new national report examining the role of philanthropy in social enterprise. It calls for a shift, towards longer-term and more flexible approaches that support systems change.
Co-produced with the social enterprise sector and led by May Miller-Dawkins the report brings together insights from interviews, focus groups and case studies across the country, drawing on more than 20 years of sector development. It highlights how philanthropy, while a relatively small part of overall funding, has played a critical role in building shared infrastructure, supporting key moments in the sector, and piloting approaches taken up by government.
At the same time, it identifies challenges including short funding cycles, underinvestment in shared infrastructure, and gaps in support for regional and First Nations-led initiatives.
The report offers practical recommendations that include greater investment in shared infrastructure, strengthening trust-based relationships, and recognising First Nations governance and community-led decision-making.
Read the report on Understorey
Special event to launch WISE Learn Book
I’m excited to be joining Loretta Bolotin and Nina Yousefpour of GoodWolf Partners, alongside Sally McGeoch and Lisa Waldron of Westpac Foundation, in a special online event on what it takes to build and sustain a successful Work Integration Social Enterprise (WISE) - and what effective funding looks like.
Over the past 12 months, Westpac Foundation and GoodWolf Partners have explored this topic in depth, and the result is the WISE Learn Book - a new resource grounded in real-world experience, challenges and insights from across the sector.
In an online event on 28 April that marks the public launch of the WISE Learn Book, we will bring these insights to life through a practical, practioner-led conversation.
The session will explore what it takes to balance impact, sustainability and growth, common myths and misconceptions on performance and scale, lessons from WISE leaders, and how the Learn Book can be used.
Open learning in April and May
We have some fantastic learning events coming up in April and May - from funder takes on failure, to legal Q&As.
On 21 April, Future Minds Network will bring together youth engagement practitioners for a conversation on what it takes to meaningfully engage young people - and keep them engaged.
On 30 April, Think Impact will convene a panel of leading social enterprise funders for an honest conversation about failure, from a funder’s perspective.
On 1 May, Jessica Mendoza-Roth of Social Impact Hub and Keith Rovers of Minter Ellison will host a Q&A session for social enterprises on all things legal, from legal structures to governance and impact capital raising.
On 13 May, Melbourne social enterprise Green Collect will share insights from its learning community on practical steps to a circular economy.
On 27 May, Western Australian peak body Linkwest will share insights from its learning community that connected social enterprise with a successful ‘staying-in-place’ model for older people.
These free online events are funded by the Australian Government’s Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI), to grow social impact.
Explore all our open learning events here
Superannuation changes coming soon
Does your organisation pay superannuation? If so, you need to be aware of and plan for Australian Government changes to superannuation contributions that take effect from 1 July 2026.
Known as Payday Super, they include a new requirement for employers to pay superannuation at the same time as wages rather than quarterly. We encourage you to consider both the administrative and potentially significant cash flow implications of this for your organisation.
Jess Moore