Social Enterprise Hubs are an innovative approach to developing partnerships between government, philanthropists and the community sector to support the development of social enterprises in Australia. They are place-based responses to social inclusion and are developed in specific regions to stimulate the development of social enterprises.
SVA Social Enterprise Hubs are located in the ACT and Queensland.
The Parramatta Social Enterprise Hub project was completed on 30 June 2010. Find out more about the results of this project here.
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Click link to jump to sectionHow do Social Enterprise Hubs work?
Social Enterprise Hubs provide business and support services to accelerate the growth of social enterprises through networking opportunities and access to resources that would not otherwise be available or affordable.
The key objectives of Social Enterprise Hubs are to:
- Increase the sustainability of new or existing social enterprises
- Increase employment opportunities for people excluded from the labour market
- Increase the capacity of social entrepreneurs to run their social enterprises
- Improve social inclusion
The Hubs work to meet these objectives by offering a number of services to social enterprises including:
- Meeting Place – opportunities to network with existing entrepreneurs through regular meetings and events
- Business development – support to organisations to enable them to start up or increase their sustainability
- Commerce Panel – a business plan review service provided by a panel of business experts. The panel acts as a gateway for further support
- Procurement Support – advice and guidance on tendering for government or commercial contracts
- Impact Evaluation – annual tracking of the growth, performance and impact of your social enterprise
- Pro bono support – access to mentoring and pro bono support from a range of corporate partners
Combined, these services are aimed at transforming enterprises from ‘piece meal’ organisations to robust, sustainable trading entities delivering social benefits and employment.
How are the Social Enterprise Hubs funded?
The funding model for the social enterprise hubs has evolved over time as our understanding about the level of support required for the hubs’ success has increased. The core principle of the social enterprise hubs is a partnership between the public, private and community sectors, which includes contributing to expertise and resources. Going forward it is envisaged that the partners will contribute as follows:
- Local Government – will provide funding and seek to open up procurement opportunities
- State Government – will open up procurement opportunities, seek to engage the Hub in strategic development opportunities for social enterprise and where appropriate will match funding
- Corporate Partners – SVA will aim to engage appropriate corporate partners in supporting the Social Enterprise Hub through pro bono support and mentoring.
What are the benefits of the Social Enterprise Hubs?
Social Enterprise Hubs provide a number of benefits to social enterprises including:
- Access to expertise and relevant business knowledge from both the corporate and social sectors
- Learning opportunities
- Networking opportunities
The results so far
Over 40 enterprises have engaged with the Hub in Brisbane over the past three years, which has recently been incorporated into the Queensland Hubs alongside Logan and Ipswich. Enterprises that have progressed through the Hub program in Brisbane have experienced the following outcomes:
- Increase in revenue/employment (or both)
- Increased procurement with local councils/businesses
- Assistance and matching support with loan and capacity building funding
- Increase in employment – on average 74 per cent of the enterprises’ employees are people who were excluded from the labour market.
The ACT Hub launched in June 2009 and is continually growing the number of social enterprises it supports.
The Parramatta Social Enterprise Hub project, a partnership between SVA and Parramatta City Council, ended in June 2010. Read more about the results of this project.
Click on the name of the Hub to read its latest progress report:
Logan Hub Progress Report [PDF file size: 175KB ]
Ipswich Hub Progress Report [PDF file size: 168KB]
Brisbane Hub Progress Report [PDF file size: 190KB]
ACT Hub Progress Report [PDF file size: 158KB]