It’s been a brilliant start to 2024! We’ve seen new support from the Federal Government for social enterprise and social procurement, we’re delivering new member services, and member numbers continue to grow - 34 new business and government members and 114 new certified social enterprises have joined this year.

We’ve got big plans for the year ahead to continue the momentum.

Government support is growing

Last month we held the second social enterprise showcase event at Parliament House with Social Enterprise Australia. We were joined by over 50 politicians, policymakers, philanthropists and social enterprise leaders to talk about how social enterprise can unlock public benefit. As said by keynote speaker the Honourable Dr Andrew Leigh MP, "economics isn't just about maximising money, it's about maximising wellness, and social enterprise gets that”.

We have just seen the release of the House of Representatives Economics Committee report "Better Competition, Better Prices” calling for social procurement and certification. This is the third major government report that backs social enterprise.

We are continuing positive conversations with the Departments of Employment, Social Services, Finance and Treasury. We continue to hear that social enterprise and social procurement are on the agenda across government.

Social enterprise and businesses working together in new ways

Late last year, we kicked off the Supplier Development Program with Mirvac. Four certified social enterprises were selected to work with Mirvac to build their procurement capability. So far, we’ve facilitated 20 introductions to our business and government members, heard that the mentoring sessions with Mirvac experts are ‘highly valuable’ and social enterprise participants felt confident in winning work with larger buyers.

We’re seeing some great work from our business members, creating new ways to support social enterprises. For example:

• ACCIONA are running an in-house social benefit supplier development program via Southern Program Alliance with two certified social enterprises, Cacti Conserve and LVE, being mentored as part of the Accelerator Program.
• Downer is rolling out a new pre-qualification system that collects and stores data on one platform, making it easier to search for certified social enterprise suppliers.
• Yarra Trams launched a shared value partnership with SisterWorks on International Women's Day, leveraging SisterWorks' strengths to enhance their role as a rail supplier. They'll manufacture crucial rail components like the wheel shunt, ensuring industry safety standards are met while empowering women economically in Victoria.

National Game Changer Awards are back!

This year we’ll have new categories for both business and government members and certified social enterprises. Take a look at our award webpage to find out more. Award submissions will open on April 22nd.

New national specialist roles

Social Traders has been growing. With solid projects and advocacy underway across the country, we’ve shifted our State Social Procurement Lead roles from regional leads to national specialists:

• Rewa Mackie is now our Project Delivery Lead joining the Innovation Team and working on designing and delivering new services for businesses and government.
• Matt Panayi has taken up the National Sector Engagement Lead where he’ll be coordinating the recruitment, engagement and journey of social enterprises.
• Amy Orange is our Social Procurement Lead continuing as the key point of contact in SA while also working on advocacy and developing social procurement on a national level.

We’re lucky to have a passionate and experienced team based across four states. Find out more about our team here.

We’re just getting started

It’s an exciting time for the social enterprise and social procurement sectors. The impact created through the $843 million spent with certified social enterprises only inspires us to do more.

Let's continue working together to build a fairer and more equitable Australia.