Australian Government support social enterprise at World Forum

Senator Ursula Stephens, this afternoon chaired a master class on “Demonstrating Value” at the second Social Enterprise World Forum in Melbourne this afternoon.

The World Forum, co-hosted by Social Traders and Social Ventures Australia in Melbourne, brings together a diverse mix of social enterprise managers, social investors and enablers/supporters from across the globe.

In her introduction to the master class, Senator Stephens reflected on her first-hand experience of local social enterprises and the invaluable training and work-experience opportunities they provide for Australians finding it difficult to enter the workforce.

“The Australian Government believes that a thriving social enterprise sector in Australia has an important role to play in helping us achieve our vision of a fairer Australia, where everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

“That’s why the government has already supported 75 social enterprises under the first round of the Jobs Fund and the $41 million Innovation Fund.

“This Master class and the World Forum as a whole is very timely as the government investigates how to get the most benefit from social enterprises and to encourage and support their growth in Australia,” said Senator Stephens.

Speakers in the ‘Demonstrating Value’ master class explored triple bottom line methodologies for quantifying the social, environmental and financial returns delivered by social enterprise. Demonstrating value is critical to attracting investors, securing government assistance and gaining community support for projects.

The three presenters at the master class were Carol Tappendem from CSR Systems South Africa, Tricia Wallace from TechnoServe Mozambique and Kaely Woods from Indigenous Business Australia.

More information about this event can be found online at Social Enterprise World Forum. More information about the Social Inclusion agenda can be found at Social inclusion.