Sector
Engagement
Collaboration is key to advancing social enterprise in Australia.
We’re stronger together.
We achieve so much more when we work together. At Whitebox we work hand-in hand with social enterprises across the country, running pilots, testing new ideas, and uncovering the roadblocks that are holding us all back.
We’re also active contributors and listeners within various jobs focused social enterprise groups. Through research projects, WISE and sector committees, we stay close to the challenges and opportunities shaping the sector.
Keeping the dialogue open with all players ensures the positions we advocate for with government are not just our own, they represent a broader collective voice.
We evaluate every major project and share what we learn. Our goal is to turn lessons into levers for change, so others can build on these, and the sector can grow faster, together.
KEY INITIATIVES
Other collectives we’re actively involved in…
- The WISE Hub, a committee of Social Enterprise Australia.
- CASEI (Council of Australian Social Enterprise Intermediaries).
- ARC Linkage Project: Activating Employment Futures through Work Integration Social Enterprise, led by Professor Jo Barraket.
- Social Procurement Australasia
Giving WISEs a voice in the employment reform process
In May 2026 the federal government announced plans for a major overhaul of the employment system. To help inform our recommendations to government, we opened the floor to job-focused social enterprises to share their experience of the current employment system and their views on how it could better support people facing complex barriers to work.
Across five consultation sessions, more than 30 people from 25 social enterprises and impact organisations shared insights from the frontline, drawing on their experience supporting young people, First Nations communities, refugees, people with disability, women escaping family violence, people experiencing homelessness, and people with justice system experience. While every conversation reflected different communities and experiences, clear themes emerged across the sessions.
We used the insights provided, alongside evidence from the PBO trial, our own social enterprises, and broader sector experience, to inform our submission in response to the Australian Government’s Employment Services Reform Discussion Paper.
Australian delegation
descends on France
In May 2026, Whitebox hosted a delegation of Australian social enterprise leaders and funders in France to explore how jobs focused social enterprises and disability enterprises are supported to operate at scale.
France provides the most compelling international model for what a mature, government-supported WISE system can achieve. At any one time, 160K+ people with complex barriers are transitioning through 4,500 WISEs. 60%+ of WISE participants transition into mainstream employment or further education within two years.
Over six intensive days, the delegation met with senior government officials from France Travail (National Employment Services), representatives from la Federation des Entreprises d’Insertion, the national jobs focused social enterprises peak body, as well as visiting leading social enterprises including Groupe SOS, one of Europe’s largest social enterprise groups with 750+ entities, 22,000 employees generating €2bn in annual turnover, and La Varappe, a major work integration group employing 12,000 people across environment, eco construction and health sectors.
“In Australia we have social enterprises wobbling precariously at the tip of this iceberg without the ballast of infrastructure or enabling mental models underneath.”
— Kate Barrelle, STREAT
Advocating Through Action
We advocate for change by doing. We build the evidence through testing and trialling with the sector. Then we share what we learn with government, philanthropy and other key influencers.
Read our latest insights
Explore what we’re learning about what works in jobs focused employment and disability enterprise, from sector evaluations to systems-change research.