Social enterprises punch above their weight: report
Posted on 21 Nov 2024
By Greg Thom, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia
A new report highlighting the economic and societal value of social enterprises has called for more federal government support for the sector.
The inaugural Report on Identified Social Enterprises (RISE) is described as the largest and most comprehensive analysis of social enterprises in Australia.
The study, released by social enterprise industry body Social Traders to coincide with World Social Enterprise Day revealed:
- certified social enterprises invest 27% of their total revenue in delivering impact
- 68% of social enterprises reported a net profit in the past financial year
- Social enterprises spend $5.7 billion a year on delivering impact
- Social enterprises created more than 89,000 jobs for people facing barriers to work
- 23% of social enterprises are entirely self-funded, with all revenue generated from trade
- 44% identify their primary beneficiaries as people with disabilities, providing much-needed support for a community facing systemic barriers to securing and retaining open employment
There are an estimated 12,000 social enterprises in Australia.
Analysis of half of these contained in the RISE report found they contribute $16 billion to the Australian economy, indicates the sector’s overall economic contribution may be greater than the $21.27 billion predicted in previous estimates.
“Let’s make social enterprise business as usual, for a more inclusive, sustainable and equitable Australia.”
In the forward to the report, Social Traders CEO Tara Anderson said that social enterprises combine the head of business with the heart of charity and deliver the impact of both.
“They prove that doing good and doing business are not mutually exclusive.”
Anderson said the report for the first time combines Social Traders own data on 636 social enterprises with data from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and Map for Impact.
This brought the total number of social enterprises analysed in the report to almost 6,000 – the largest dataset on social enterprises to be analysed in Australia.
“As we combine datasets for the first time, our hope is that this report will empower policymakers, researchers, investors, philanthropists, intermediaries and the public to better understand and support the vital contributions of social enterprises,” said Anderson.
Anderson said countries with national social enterprise strategies have seen a 16% increase in social enterprises start-ups.
If replicated in Australia, this could result in an additional 1,900 social enterprises spending $900 million per year to deliver social and environmental impact.
“Imagine what would be possible if social enterprises played a bigger role in the economy,” said Anderson.
“Let’s make social enterprise business as usual, for a more inclusive, sustainable and equitable Australia.”
More information
Canberra boosts social enterprise efforts to tackle social disadvantage
New report identifies the scale of social impact challenge
Community Directors Intelligence: the social enterprise edition