Introducing the WISE Hub
In August this year, a collaboration about work integration social enterprises (WISEs) formally kicked off. It's called the WISE Hub. Its purpose is to strengthen the enabling environment for the WISE sector so that it can grow and unlock greater economic inclusion. Short term, it seeks to bring sustainable government funding to WISEs, relative to the public value they create, and sufficient that they can sustain and grow.
Jo Barraket, Cindy Mitchell, Luke Terry, Sally McGeoch, Cindy Carpenter and Jess Moore - all working toward this purpose already - came together to form the WISE Hub Committee. SECNA is providing backbone support.
The group formed as, for some time now, a number of people and organisations have been working independently to grow WISE sector knowledge, funding and investment, but not together. In a meeting of WISEs organised by the Westpac Foundation in February 2021, participants agreed that a shared approach, including a hub, was needed. Likewise, at the Social Enterprise Unconference in July 2021, sector participants identified the need to work together, to maximise outcomes for disadvantaged job seekers. The WISE Hub Committee formed to drive a collective and seeks to build on what’s already working and be more powerful than the sum of individual efforts. Key work underway in the sector includes:
A payment by outcome pilot being developed by WhiteBox Enterprises with the Department of Social Services.
A dedicated social enterprise funding mechanism for refugee employment outcomes is being discussed with the Department of Home Affairs.
The Centre for Social Impact Swinburne is undertaking research to identify the support costs borne by WISEs.
Social Ventures Australia is undertaking work to identify the key levers that must be pulled to unlock access to resources for WISEs.
ASENA submitted a policy response in May 2021 to the Department of Education, Skills and Employment on the New Employment Services Model, requesting that it enable WISEs to access funds for the employment outcomes they create; and in November 2021 provided feedback to the Department of Home Affairs on social enterprise funding being considered.
The key work the WISE Hub Committee plans over the next 18 months is to:
Bring together key sector stakeholders to collaborate, learn and coordinate around purpose
Aggregate what is known about WISEs, and identify and address research and data gaps
Build business case/s matched to government and investor needs and opportunities
Undertake targeted communications and advocacy
Work with governments to co-design funding mechanisms that recognise and sustain the public value WISEs create
WISEs directly address unemployment for disadvantaged job seekers. They are a proven way to unlock sustainable employment outcomes for the most disadvantaged people, groups and places. They also develop people for industry.
While the government pays service providers and employers for their role in tackling unemployment, as the support of disadvantaged cohorts involves costs, this funding has largely not been available to WISEs. This has created a gap in WISE business models: WISEs provide a service for which they are not paid and bear the associated costs. This hampers their ability to sustain, secure investment, scale and maximise the critical role they play. The WISE Hub seeks to change this.
You can read the ASENA response to the New Employment Services Model Exposure Draft here and Grants to Social Enterprise to list Refugee employment rate here.