Program

Jobs-focused social enterprise is a powerful way to create opportunities for people shut out of mainstream employment. To remind us why we're all here, Mel Sass will share their story. A former family services practitioner and the self-appointed poster child for adversity, Mel now thrives as part of the team at Beacon Laundry. Drawing on lived experience of addiction and recovery, they’ll remind us why decent work is about so much more than a job.

We’re putting practitioners front and centre in a series of short, sharp talks that share the highs and lows of running a jobs-focused social enterprise. What’s working and what’s not? What hard-earned lessons are worth sharing? What keeps them going? And if they had their time again, what would they do differently?

How can we get more people into decent, meaningful work? What makes a jobs-focused social enterprise model scalable, replicable, and effective—and under what conditions?

In 2024, a research team from the Universities of Melbourne and Queensland led by Professor Jo Barraket, began exploring these questions through research funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage grant*. The study is investigating the role WISEs can play in improving the employment futures of people experiencing disadvantage. 

Find out what insights the team have uncovered so far and what you can take back to your own organisation. 

*In partnership with White Box Enterprises, Westpac Foundation, Outlook Australia and STREAT

What are the conditions that enable a social purpose organisation to grow to over 750 entities, employing 22,000 people and reaching more than 2 million beneficiaries — while addressing exclusion, delivering essential services, and driving innovation across social and environmental challenges?

Frédéric Bailly will share insights from this extraordinary organisation including its many jobs-focused models. He’ll then be joined by Luke Terry from White Box Enterprises to tease out how this non-profit group has achieved such phenomenal scale, and what support the French Government provides.

Unlike other organisations in the employment ecosystem most jobs-focused social enterprises aren’t funded for supporting people into work. Payment by Outcomes (PBO) is a new model being trialed where social enterprises are paid directly for the outcomes they steward. 

It sounds exciting, and it can be, but what's the reality of these models? How do they land differently in different contexts? Is your organisation the right fit? And is this the mechanism to take us to a model of ongoing systemic change?

Stay sharp after lunch with a round of lightning talks sharing bold ideas, honest lessons, and fresh inspiration.

Need a moment to not be sitting? To move after lunch? This is your space. 

Stay tuned for more details soon.

Social procurement can be a catalyst for many jobs-focused social enterprises. But along with the opportunities, what should you look out for? What stage of growth does it suit? How do you spot and negotiate an unforgiving contract or consider unintended consequences? And what do corporates and governments need to consider? 

A panel discussion with pep that is sure to get you thinking.

As part of a $111 million employment portfolio, PRF invested $42 million in 30 partnerships across 24 WISEs. These enterprises consistently deliver strong outcomes for people furthest from the labour market. But behind the impact lies a tougher story — of fragile business models, systemic underinvestment, and a funding environment that doesn’t yet pay for what works. In this session, Matt Knopp will share key insights from this body of work — and discuss what makes WISEs effective, what threatens their viability, and what’s needed to unlock their full potential.

When we asked people what they love most about conferences, connecting with others in the sector was consistently one of the top things. This is one of several moments throughout the Social Enterprise Jobs Summit designed to help you deepen those connections and strengthen your network.

We invite you to sit down with others in the same space as you. Share challenges, spark connections and learn from each other.