November 2025 news
There’s a lot that’s tough in the world right now. It’s loud and front of mind.
There’s also a lot that’s good. People walking the talk to make life, and the future, safer and fairer.
That’s where hope at this time sits for me - in the people who show up to build an economy that puts people and planet first.
National strategy co-design workshop this week
We need a collective roadmap to unlock the power of social enterprise. One that is sector-led - so that the efforts and energy of diverse people and organisations can align to make big change possible.
Last month, Social Enterprise Australia kicked off a six-month process to refresh the social enterprise national strategy. To start this process, we ran a survey to hear views on the current strategy and ideas to strengthen it.
Now, we’ll bring people from across the sector together for a co-design workshop this Thursday 27 November.
At the co-design workshop, we’ll share survey findings and ask for your thoughts on changes to the strategy. Then we’ll break into small groups to deep dive into the topics that you told us are most important to you.
If you haven’t already, now is the time to secure a place.
Register for the workshop here.
To facilitate deep discussion in small groups, spaces are limited, and registrations will be capped at 150. If registrations are closed, you’ll be prompted to join a wait list. If you can no longer attend, please cancel via the confirmation email from Humanitix so we can allocate your place to someone else.
For those who can’t make the workshop, we’ll be sharing the survey and co-design workshop results via this newsletter and LinkedIn, and the next ways to get involved.
World Social Enterprise Day
Celebrations of World Social Enterprise Day last week made clear the growing momentum for social enterprise in Australia. Our sector is moving into the mainstream as more people see - and value - business for good.
A new plan for social enterprise was announced, that’s huge for Queensland and has national significance. In one of many events across Australia, the Queensland Social Enterprise Council joined the Queensland Government to release the Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Roadmap. It makes a clear commitment with financial backing to embed social enterprise in the state’s future economy.
With more commitments like this, connected by a national strategy that aligns efforts and investment, social enterprise can scale and thrive as a key part of Australia’s economy.
Events on rural funding and human rights
Our 2025 open learning program is wrapping up with two more events for the year.
Sefa Partnerships will bring together impact leaders and funders to share insights on funding for social impact in rural and remote communities in an online panel discussion tomorrow (Wednesday 26 November). Drawing from a Social Enterprise Australia learning community, they’ll explore funding design and delivery, and opportunities for change.
In the lead up to World Human Rights Day, the Impact Business School will bring together speakers from the Human Rights Law Centre and the Australian Human Rights Commission to explore human rights in social enterprise on Tuesday 9 December.
Both online events are free to attend and funded under the Australian Government's Social Enterprise Development Initiative, to grow social impact.
Explore all our open learning events here - including recordings of the ones you've missed.
Jess Moore