Shift 2026
Shaping the future of disability enterprise.
A sector transformation
SHIFT 2026 was a one-day national gathering bringing together leaders from disability and social enterprises, key intermediaries, peak bodies, government, academics and people with lived experience.
Hosted by the White Box, the Centre for Inclusive Employment and the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne, the forum aimed to accelerate the role disability enterprises play in fostering more inclusive, choice-driven employment and stronger skill building for people with disability. The day focused on the organisations transforming their models and redefining best practice.
More than 100 people attended, including the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, for a day of honest, evidence-informed conversations about commercial viability, employee
outcomes and what it really takes to lead transformation.
The following day, a smaller, invitation-only roundtable brought 28 key sector leaders together to dig deeper into the issues raised at SHIFT, working through what practical next steps could look like.
The need for SHIFT
The timing of this conversation was
significant. The Disability Royal
Commission called for genuine choice,
fairer pay, meaningful roles and
development pathways for people with
disability. Driving real change means
taking a whole-of-sector approach.
Disability enterprises across the
country are asking the same questions:
how do we evolve, where do we start,
what models actually work, and who is
already doing this well?
SHIFT 2026 provided a forum to
unpack these challenges by hearing
from the organisations and partners
forging a path forward.
Key themes explored
Skills development and transitions
What good practice looks like, from onboarding and job design to long-term career progression, inside and beyond the enterprise.
Different models, shared ambition
Exploring the range of approaches across disability and social enterprises, and how to design systems that genuinely centre people, acknowledging there’s no single right model for inclusive employment.
The social enterprise dilemma
Examining the tension between running sustainable, competitive businesses and delivering deep social impact.
Transformation and change
Honest conversations about what it really takes to lead change, covering leadership, culture, systems, risk and investment.
Evolve, in practice
For White Box, SHIFT 2026 is a natural extension of our growing work in the Disability Enterprise space. We are currently running Evolve, a two year, fully funded program supporting three disability enterprises, genU, Waverley Social Enterprises and Intelife, to transition into jobs-focused social enterprises.
The program represents a practical, on-the-ground approach to reimagining disability employment, and its learnings featured throughout SHIFT’s discussions on commercial viability and transformation. Find out more about Evolve.
What's next
SHIFT 2026 demonstrated strong collaboration, careful planning and a shared commitment to honest sector conversations.
The relationships, insights and momentum built across the day, and the roundtable that followed, will continue to shape White Box’s work, including through Evolve and our broader engagement with the disability enterprise sector.
We’ll share more as these conversations continue.
Need advisory support?
We love to collaborate. If you share in our belief that employment can change lives and the solution lies is jobs-focused social enterprise, get in touch.
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