Hi folks,
I’ve just been in Canberra. And the experience made me more hopeful.
On 14 October, I stood in Parliament House with four social enterprises, and an organising team from White Box Enterprises and Social Enterprise Australia, and talked with MPs, Senators and public servants about why our sector matters.
There are two Australian Government reforms underway that are a big deal for our sector, and for people most shut out of work. Employment services reform has been announced on a scale not seen in 30 years. And Home Affairs is proposing to merge three settlement programs into one. This includes the trailblazing Economic Pathways to Refugee Integration Program, through which social enterprises create paths to work for refugee and humanitarian entrants. A merger could strengthen or dilute this.
Three recent Government papers and reviews name social enterprise as part of what’s needed to tackle unemployment. Its value is recognised. But if and how social enterprises will be included remains an open question.
The Australian Government committed to full employment in its Employment White Paper. That means a job for everyone who wants one and is able to work.
Jobs-focused social enterprises have a distinct role to play. They create jobs and pathways to employment for those most shut out of work. They combine real work settings with wrap-around support. In communities with too few jobs, they create new ones.
In doing so, they create public value and a better bottom line for Government: less spent on income support, and more collected in income tax.
But to do this at scale, and make real change for people most shut out of work, one problem needs solving. Delivering their employment outcomes adds costs that equivalent commercial businesses don’t have. They provide an additional service for which they are not routinely paid.
That’s the case we took to Canberra.
Image: Group photo of representatives and organisers from Social Enterprise Australia and White Box Enterprises in Canberra.
We kicked off with a workshop with executive, policy and program teams from Employment, Social Services, Home Affairs, Treasury and Prime Minister and Cabinet. We explored the evidence, the impact and what it will take to unlock social enterprise to drive real change.
We then continued the conversation with MPs, Senators, their staff, and senior public service executives. Thank you to the Hon Patrick Gorman MP, Assistant Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, for hosting the event and supporting social enterprise.
Sharing their work at both events were Vanessa Brettell from Stepping Stone, Geoff Smith from Australian Spatial Analytics, Kirra Johnson from Good Cycles, and Suzie Barnett and Litoni Hema from Two Good Co. These are four enterprises working with different cohorts, in different places, with different models. Together, they showcased the value and spectrum of jobs-focused social enterprise.
Hats off and huge thanks to them. Specific thanks to Litoni, who shared her personal story, including hard parts. She reminded us why this work matters.
Decades of impact by social enterprises and sector advocacy got us into these rooms.
Government interest was clear. That’s what gave me hope. Now that interest needs to become change.
We’re asking the Australian Government to:
Pay social enterprises for the employment outcomes and public savings they create
Design payments to support and not undermine what makes them effective
Keep jobs-focused social enterprises as a specialist, distinctly funded stream in the new settlement grants program
Read our submissions on employment services reform and settlement grants reform.
Contact your local MP. Ask them to back paying social enterprises for the employment outcomes they create. If you don’t know who your local MP is, use the Find My Electorate tool to find their name and the Parliament of Australia directory to find their contact details.
Not yet a member? Join Social Enterprise Australia to help power this campaign. Shape it, champion it, and do this alongside others. All who support this work are welcome.