Social Enterprise is having a moment in Australia. Investment is growing. Government attention is increasing. New opportunities are emerging. Yet for many social enterprises, the challenge remains the same: how do you create lasting impact while building a sustainable business model?
There are more than 12,000 social enterprises operating in Australia, contributing $21.3 billion to the economy, employing more than 200,000 people and attracting a growing buyer market. All of which exist aligned to a range of different purposes.
Some enterprises exist to create employment pathways. Others centre on social connection, health and wellbeing, social justice, or community resilience. What they share is a commitment to using business as a vehicle for change, and a responsibility to the people and communities they serve.
And whilst purpose may define why a social enterprise exists, financial sustainability determines whether it can continue creating impact.
According to Social Traders’ Industry Snapshots 2026, $304 million was spent with certified social enterprises via social procurement in FY25 alone, up 18% on the previous year, with 35% average annual growth sustained over eight years.
Employment services reform, social procurement growth and increasing interest in alternative funding models are creating new opportunities for social enterprises. But growth without the right policy settings, workforce supports and funding structures risks creating new pressures alongside new possibilities.
As Australia’s peak body for Not for Profits delivering human and social services, Amplify Alliance sits at the intersection of policy and practice. We work alongside Members building social enterprise models across jobs, home, health, learning, social connection and social justice, giving us a unique perspective on both the opportunities and challenges facing social enterprises.
That means Amplify Alliance sees both sides of the equation: the policy environment shaping what is possible, and the operational realities Members are navigating every day.
Across the Amplify Alliance network, Member organisations are demonstrating what social enterprise can achieve when purpose, commercial discipline and human services expertise come together.
They are experiencing the real advantages that come when a larger parent organisation establishes a social enterprise. Shared overheads, corporate support structures, and reduced financial pressure create conditions where the enterprise can focus on its purpose and create meaningful impact for their beneficiaries.
Beyond the financial benefits, the wraparound model a larger parent organisation can offer is equally powerful. When the enterprise sits within a larger organisation, that commitment is strengthened by the infrastructure around it.
A participant walking through the door of a Work Integrated Social Enterprise (WISE) may also connect to mental health support, housing services, or legal assistance sitting within the same organisation. Or a community member accessing a social enterprise focused on social connection may find pathways to health support or advocacy they did not know existed.
Improved referral pathways and a genuinely holistic model of care are a competitive advantage across all these models, not just those solely focused on employment outcomes.
Many philanthropic and impact funders are more willing to support start up and growth activities, rather than ongoing operating costs. What that means in practice is that the business model has to be strong from day one.
Purpose and profit must be of parallel importance. Purpose to guide you, profit to sustain you. Without financial viability, the purpose and the impact cannot continue. Investing time into genuine business planning is non-negotiable.
Funding social enterprise is not one-size-fits-all.
The barriers that beneficiaries face, combined with the operational model of the enterprise, create very different viability and impact cost profiles.
Impact costs are the real, quantifiable costs of delivering support alongside a commercial service. They include the staff time, supervision, and operational load absorbed by an enterprise in order to employ and develop people facing barriers to work.
In most cases, social enterprises do not have the resources to track and quantify these costs with enough rigour to make them visible in funding conversations or contract negotiations. This needs to change.
The 2024 RISE Report found that social enterprises derive 86% of their revenue from trading activity. The goal should be to be well known for an outstanding product or service, not just because the enterprise is a social enterprise. Retaining a customer base is just as important as delivering outcomes for participants. Both require resourcing.
WISE is a strong example of where impact costs are highest and least understood.
In customer-facing WISEs, staff are effectively doing two roles: supporting participants through employment or training pathways while ensuring the customer receives a quality product and experience. This dual role creates a productivity deficit, elevating employment costs in ways standard funding models rarely account for.
The distinction between transitional employees, those working toward open employment, and non-transitional employees in longer-term supported roles matters here too. The intensity of frontline support, and therefore the real cost to the operation, looks very different depending on which model is being run.
Hospitality, retail, and other customer-facing environments carry a fundamentally higher operational risk than digital or professional services WISEs. That pressure does not disappear because the purpose is good.
For Members at the intersection of employment services and social enterprise, this conversation matters now more than ever.
Employment services reform and NDIS changes are creating pressure, but also opportunity. Stream 3 of Workforce Australia presents possibilities for WISEs with the right funding and operational model.
But an honest question needs to be asked: what happens when Stream 3 job seekers with more complex barriers are funneled into WISE environments not designed or resourced to absorb that complexity?
The risk is not about the clients. It is about what is being asked of frontline workers already holding a dual role, often without formal recognition in their job description, pay, or workload. This is a workforce sustainability question the sector does not yet have strong enough evidence to argue from.
We are yet to see a strong body of published Australian research examining the psychosocial impact on WISE frontline staff of supporting participants with complex barriers in commercial trading environments.
Across the sector there appears to be limited industry-specific analysis of where that risk is highest, and no established understanding of how staff wellbeing correlates with participant employment outcomes over time. That is both a significant evidence gap and a significant opportunity to better quantify workforce impacts, support needs and employment outcomes.
Amplify Alliance will continue to keep Members informed as reforms develop. The employment services reform conversation is not just an employment services conversation. It acknowledges that Social Enterprises may play a role within intensive services as a pathway to open employment. Amplify Alliance is watching the reform closely and will advocate for Members across all of these lenses, not just through the employment services window.
Amplify Alliance CEO, Debra Cerasa, sits on the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations’ Employment Services Reform Advisory Group, ensuring that the voice of the human and social services sector is present at the table where reform is being designed.
Through active participation in government consultations, sector roundtables, and direct representation to DEWR, Amplify Alliance is ensuring that the operational experience of Members, the people living and breathing this work every day, shapes the policy that governs it.
This is exactly the kind of moment where collective advocacy makes the difference between policy that looks good on paper and works good in practice.
Through initiatives such as our Social Traders certification, international partnerships and ongoing advocacy work, Amplify Alliance is committed to helping Members navigate the next phase of social enterprise growth in Australia.
Key Takeaways for Social Enterprise
- Track your impact data. Now: Storytelling backed by impact and wellbeing data is essential for every stakeholder conversation. Do not wait until you need it.
- A strong business model is just as important as the social impact you are trying to create: One cannot survive without the other.
- If you are skimping on your staffing model to make an opportunity viable, do not commence: Staff care should never be absorbed into the cost model. Wellbeing is not a luxury.
- Negotiate your social procurement contracts: The market conditions have never been more favourable. Social Traders’ Industry Snapshots 2026 shows that ESG and sustainability motivations are nearly closing the gap on compliance as the primary driver of social procurement spend. Buyers are coming to the table with purpose, not just policy obligations. Social procurement arrangements should adequately recognise true impact costs. That means buyers, whether corporate or government, coming to the table with more than a contract. Peppercorn rental agreements, absorbed overheads, and in-kind support are not acts of generosity. They are what genuine social procurement looks like in practice. Many corporate and government partners have the capacity to embed these costs within the running of a larger building or operation. The ask is reasonable. Know your worth.
- It is okay to say no: If an opportunity does not align with the strategic direction of the enterprise, passing on it is not failure.
- Stay connected to the frontline: Carving out time to stay connected to people and clients is not a nice-to-have. It is the purpose.
- Join the advocacy conversation: Amplify Alliance is here to take those insights further.
More information
Amplify Alliance provides Members a free Social Enterprise Readiness Tool for NFP organisations to check if they are Social Enterprise eligible.
Amplify Alliance continues to collaborate and intersect with social enterprise specialist bodies to strengthen the sector, including Social Enterprise Australia, ACRE, Social Enterprise Network Victoria, White Box Enterprises and Social Traders.
Members are encouraged to reach out and contribute their voice to reform and advocacy. Please contact us via email or phone 1800 331 915.
