What is a social enterprise?
Social enterprise is business at its best. They are innovative businesses that work to create a fairer and more sustainable world. There are an estimated 12,000 social enterprises in Australia contributing to 206,000 jobs and $21.3 billion to our economy.
A social enterprise:
- has a defined primary social, cultural or environmental purpose consistent with a public or community benefit
- derives a substantial portion of income from trade
- invests efforts and resources into purpose such that public/community benefit outweighs private benefit.
They operate across various industry sectors from facilities management, catering and hospitality, to business administration and design.
Find out if you're a social enterprise.
Grow program EOIs
We are delivering two fully funded programs to develop the capacity of disability employment-focused social enterprises and youth-focused social enterprises to grow their trade revenue. EOIs are now open for both.
Supporting disability employment-focused social enterprises
Supporting youth-focused social enterprises
Supporting charities to achieve sustainable impact
Image: Youth Enterprises Australia
Certification benefits
We’ve been certifying social enterprises since 2017. Social Traders certification aims to strengthen and elevate the sector. It provides the highest standards in Australia and it’s free to apply – accessible to all businesses putting people and planet first. Find out the benefits of certification.
Image: Reground
Supporting social enterprises to grow
Robert Servine from certified social enterprise Green Connect shares his thoughts on how Social Traders is supporting certified social enterprises to grow.