Running a social enterprise is crazy hard work, especially when you only have so much capacity and resources at your disposal. We get it. That is why finding the time to stay across what is happening can very difficult, even for the most seasoned, time-efficient changemaker.

The social enterprise sector is multi-faceted, spanning the worlds of social innovation, charities and not-for-profits, social finance and impact investing, philanthropy and more. With so much going on in each of these domains, it is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and miss out on opportunities that could advance your organisation and fundamentally transform the lives of those you exist to serve.

The trick is to stop trying to read everything out there. There’s too much. And you’re too busy. To make your life that bit easier, we have teamed up with Social Impact Hub to put together this bite-sized quarterly update filled with the most important developments and activities in the impact sector- it’s all you need to stay informed and up-to-date.

So, without further ado, here is a summary of noteworthy headlines for the third quarter of 2022, as they happened… 

• The Australian social enterprise achieved a significant milestone, agreeing on five shared values and principles. 
• Impact North, the peak body for social enterprise in the Northern Territory, launched a ‘Changemaker Series’ focused on some of the big questions and challenges in operating a social enterprise.
• The first tranche of 2021 Census data was released, revealing a changing Australia and key statistics relevant to the for-purpose sector. 
• Minderoo Foundation Dream Venture accelerator launched to give Indigenous entrepreneurs a dream start.
• Bank Australia hired their first Chief Impact Officer, Dr Sasha Courville. 
• NAIDOC week, an opportunity to learn about and celebrate some of the world’s oldest First Nations cultures was held from 3 – 10 July. 
• International Day of Cooperatives was celebrated on Saturday, 2 July, to increase awareness of cooperatives and promote the movement’s successes and ideals of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality, and world peace.
• Co-owned and shaped by the sector, the new peak body for social enterprise in Australia, Social Enterprise Australia, launched!
• The Xfactor Collective Foundation released a massive free social sector video library to strengthen and support social purpose organisations during times of change, challenge and transformation. 
• Queensland Social Enterprise Council (QSEC) launched QSEC Stories, an engaging storytelling platform to discover and connect with social enterprises. 
• South Australian Social Enterprise Council (SASEC) announced its 2022 Annual General Meeting. 
• Western Australia Social Enterprise Council (WASEC) received a fantastic turnout for its Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) event in Perth.
• The NSW Office of Social Impact Investment’s new Social Impact Investment Policy was released, setting out a more holistic vision for impact investing in the state. 
• B Lab revealed its ‘Best for the World’ list of top-performing B Corps. 
• The International Cooperative Alliance published its 2021 annual report. 
• Social Enterprise Council of NSW & ACT (SECNA) hosted a Social Enterprise Stories and Gathering event for the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) and launched monthly meetups to bring the community and ecosystem together. 
• Social Enterprise Network Victoria (SENVIC) looked to recruit two non-Executive Board Members and launched an Emerging Leaders Program for young leaders working in the social enterprise and impact sector in Victoria. 
• QSEC hosted a Social Enterprise Industry Forum to explore what it would take to see the Gold Coast use business as a force for good to tackle local issues. 
• SASEC and Social Traders hosted a bus tour to showcase social enterprises driving positive impact in South Australia. 
• Mikey Leung joined Social Enterprise Australia as Network Lead. 
• Impact Boom welcomed a high-potential group of 13 diverse social enterprises from across South East Queensland into the Elevate+ Accelerator Program. 
• Centre for Social Impact (CSI) Flinders and UWA published an evaluation report of the Aspire Program, Australia’s first social impact bond targeting homelessness. 
• Yunus Centre Griffith University in partnership with Catalyst 2030 Australasia, TACSI, Collaboration for Impact and STARlab launched Shaping Innovation Futures, an initiative that invites influencers and innovators across Australasia to uncover the conditions needed to accelerate regenerative and distributive futures. 
• Australian parliament passes first climate change legislation in a decade which should help build investor confidence in a transition to a low-carbon economy. 
• The Australian Leadership Index’s revamped dashboard showed what the public really thinks about Australian charities. 
• Tuesday 9 August was International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
• National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, a social enterprise providing community services and programs temporarily shut down following failed negotiations between its new and old owners.
• Impact Investing Australia celebrated the Impact Investment Ready Growth Grants program, which has awarded 105 grants, totalling $8.15 million and raising over $183 million in impact capital. 
• Collab4Good and StartSomeGood wrapped up South Australia’s first circular economy incubator for social enterprises, Heaps Good Hustle Circular Economy Incubator.
• The Office of Social Impact Investment announced the first tender opportunity under the Social Impact Outcomes Fund as part of the 2021-22 NSW Budget. 
• Susan Bannigan retired, having driven the strategic transformation of Westpac Foundation’s focus on investing in and building the capacity of social enterprises.
• Disability employment services sector was overhauled, with some providers shut down.
• QSEC welcomed the release of the Queensland Government’s Workforce Strategy: Good People, Good Jobs, which highlights a pathway to address critical jobs shortages in Queensland.
• SECNA hosted its first in-person Social Procurement Networking event alongside Social Traders.
• SENVIC paid respects to The Honourable Jane Garrett MP, who passed away and played a significant leadership role in the development of the Victorian Social Enterprise Strategy 2021-25.
• Impact investing leaders have been emboldened by Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ plan to bring together banks and superannuation funds to discuss the funding of social services alongside the government. 
• Australia‘s Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) launched the country’s first co-op development fund to provide legal, financial and governance advice.
• Social Traders announced the winners of the 2022 Social Procurement Game Changer Awards. 
• Sefa hosted the second ‘Social’ Social Impact Drinks in Sydney for those working in and/or interested in the social impact space. 
• CSI Swinburne and the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, supported by the Victorian government, announced the development of an online tool to help social enterprises manage, evaluate, and report on their operations and impacts. 
• Westpac Foundation announced Acting CEO Amy Lyden will formally step into the role of CEO.
• Paul Ramsay Foundation announced Professor Kristy Muir as CEO.
• Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forest launched a new $250 million health-tech fund. 
• The federal government’s long-awaited Jobs and Skills Summit wrapped up. 
• A shared playbook for marketing social enterprise launched to take awareness to the next level by providing the tools to collectively raise the profile of the entire social enterprise sector.  
• SECNA is on the hunt for an Executive Officer to help grow the organisation and the sector. 
• SENVIC announced the appointment of Local Leads across Greater Melbourne, completing the network’s state-wide coverage of all 11 Regional Victoria and Suburban Development regions. 
• To get social enterprise on the Government of South Australia’s agenda SASEC asks advocates to complete survey (and make mention of social enterprises!). 
• White Box Enterprises announced a three-year trial to see social enterprises paid directly by the Australian Government for their verified employment outcomes through an innovative ‘payment by outcomes’ model.
• Tara Anderson was appointed as Social Traders’ next Chief Executive Officer.  
• World Summit Awards – Australia announced the 2022 nominees who will represent Down Under at the WSA Global Competition. 
• The 2022 Responsible Investment Benchmark Report, which measures the size, growth and performance of responsible, ethical and impact investments was released. 
• Patagonia’s billionaire owner announced he is giving away company to fight climate crisis. 
• Paul Ramsay Foundation announced $10M investment  in Palisade Impact Fund.
• The first strategic analysis of the 2021 Australian Census provided for not-for-profit leaders and philanthropists revealed a challenging picture, but also identified opportunities for social sector leaders to respond.
• Australia lags behind its international peers on top-end giving, according to new research released byCSI.
• Carmel Riley joined the SENVIC team.
• SEWF 2022, the event for the global social enterprise community, took place in Brisbane, Australia, and was a massive success!
• SEWF 2023 is heading to Amsterdam, Netherlands, next year and will be Co-hosted by Amsterdam Impact!

While not comprehensive, this summary highlights many of the key sector developments, people movements and activities that we believe would be most beneficial for social enterprise and purpose-driven organisations to be aware of. The information included is accurate to the best of our knowledge as of 30 September 2022. If there’s something important we missed, let us know! Leave a comment or email us at hello@socialchangecentral.com.

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