Social Traders response to the Workforce Australia Employment Services Inquiry

Social Traders provided a supplementary submission to the Workforce Australia Employment Services Inquiry from a question taken on notice from a public hearing in September 2023.

We’re sharing our response which covers the methodologies, use of data, stakeholder consultations, and the importance of data-informed policy design for social enterprises. It illustrates how we leverage our expertise in certification and collaboration with stakeholders to drive meaningful workforce development initiatives across Australia.

Vision and mission

We envision a thriving social enterprise sector that significantly contributes to a more inclusive and equitable society. We’re dedicated to creating employment outcomes through social enterprises, which are businesses designed to deliver jobs, training, and pathways to employment for disadvantaged Australians.

By measuring and monitoring economic and social returns through robust data collection methods, policymakers can ensure informed decision-making processes.

Social Traders recommended that Workforce Australia invest in social enterprises specifically designed to deliver employment outcomes for marginalised Australians.

Methodology

1. Stakeholder consultation

We sought input from Social Enterprise Australia and its WISE Hub Committee. A collaborative approach was taken to ensure comprehensive and diverse perspectives within the social enterprise sector were incorporated into the response.

Building in certification data with evidence from the Department of Social Services Payment by Outcomes Trial run by Whitebox Enterprises was a critical evidence base to support the recommendations.

2. Certification Process

As Australia’s national social enterprise certifier, Social Traders ensures that government investments are de-risked by support certified social enterprises. The certification process is trusted by over 160 of Australia's largest businesses and relied upon by more than 600 certified social enterprises.

Leveraging Social Traders certification can protect against "social washing" (misrepresentation as socially responsible) ensuring genuine social enterprises receive support.

The certification and recertification process allows for consistent longitudinal data to be collected with support from a highly skilled team. The certification team ensures quality and accurate data is received, reduce user errors, and enable applications to meet the highest standards.

3. Data collection and utilisation

At Social Traders, we emphasise the importance of data. This underpins all our activities and interventions. We see a growing need and usage of data within the sector. We have developed a series of simple, yet effective measures, that can be compared across many organisations – overcoming challenges in data collection.

The dataset we maintain is extensive, covers various models, stages, and legal structures of social enterprises. It is continually updated on a weekly basis.

4. Policy recommendations

Social Traders provided six recommendations in designing a fund for Work Integrated Social Enterprises (WISEs):

1. Use a tender process, not a single rate card, to engage a variety of WISEs
2. Collect data and learn from enterprises to understand the impact and costs of different models
3. Contract large WISEs directly and small WISEs in aggregate
4. Make participation available as an alternative to all people accessing personalised support from Workforce Australia Services
5. Start small, learn and grow as the sector is able to scale
6. Connect this funding mechanism with other government social enterprise initiatives, design it with the sector, and underpin it with certification

Investment from the government would enable Social Traders to significantly expand our dataset and add additional outcome indicators.

We also proposed that this enhanced database could become publicly available on a live digital platform to foster innovation, improve practice, support policy development, and increase awareness about social enterprises.

Our response highlights the strategic use of stakeholder consultation, rigorous certification processes, comprehensive data collection methods, and targeted policy recommendations to enhance workforce development initiatives across Australia.

We emphasise that data-informed policy design underscores the commitment to fostering inclusive employment opportunities through robust support mechanisms for social enterprises.

View our impact report and specific submissions we’ve made during the inquiry:

Social Traders Impact Report

Submission to Workforce Australia Inquiry

Photo credit: Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute