The Albanese Labor Government is taking action to tackle entrenched disadvantage by supporting social enterprises working with communities in need, through its Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI) Capability Building Grants.
Five successful applicants from round one and the four successful applicants from round two will receive SEDI Capability Building Grants, totalling $1 million in funding.
Each of these social enterprises will receive up to $120,000 to grow their business and scale up their impact to better enable them to support Australians experiencing disadvantage.
The social enterprises will use the funding to purchase services such as business planning, financial management, contract negotiation, legal support, outcomes measurement and assistance to access finance such as investment loans and capital.
The Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, said all social enterprises were assessed by the SEDI Grants Administrator, Impact Investing Australia, as having great potential to scale up their work with disadvantaged individuals and communities across the country.
"We want all Australians and communities to have the best opportunity to thrive, and social enterprises are able to offer innovative and tailored solutions to help tackle entrenched disadvantage," Minister Rishworth said.
"Each of the nine social enterprises offer something unique to their local community, and this funding will help to build on their capability to deliver vital services.
"Our Government is committed to supporting the work of social enterprises in the long-term as they play a critical role in supporting local communities and those experiencing disadvantage."
The five successful social enterprises from round one are:
- Nundah Community Enterprise Cooperative, based in Brisbane - delivering a workers cooperative model that provides employment, training and power in decision making for people with disability;
- Centre for Participation, based in regional Victoria - providing community supports, including employment and training to people with barriers to work;
- Good Cycles, based in Melbourne - providing employment and training to youth with barriers to work;
- Elenor Duncan Aboriginal Services, based in regional New South Wales - providing Aboriginal community health and wellbeing services, including General Practitioner and dental services; and
- APY Art Centre Collective, based in Adelaide - providing a platform and galleries in major cities for Aboriginal artists in the APY lands to sell their art and create community art projects.
The four successful social enterprises from round two are:
- The Community Grocer, based in Melbourne - providing fruit and vegetable markets at discounted rates in communities experiencing disadvantage;
- Hotel Ethico, based in the Blue Mountains - employing and training young people with disability in hospitality and independent living skills;
- Mutitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation, based in rural Northern Territory - supporting projects tailored to the Anangu community; and
- See Me Please, online initiative across Australia - a platform for organisations to gather feedback from people with vision or hearing impairment, neurodiversity, elderly or non-English backgrounds to help improve the accessibility of their services.
"We are pleased to support such a diverse mix of social enterprises, that cover a variety of geographical regions and cohorts, and deliver different community benefits and employment outcomes," Minister Rishworth said.
"I am excited to see these organisations grasp this opportunity to grow and expand their impact in their local communities."
The SEDI supports social enterprises both through the Capability Building Grants and an online education and mentoring program for the social impact investing sector to help build sector knowledge and skills.
SEDI is part of an integrated package of over $200 million to address entrenched disadvantage in communities, first announced in the 2023−24 Budget.
