Image credit: Cinta Vidal

Social impact, entrepreneurship, and innovation - if it's interesting news, you'll find it here. These stories may not be the ones on the top of your news feed, but chances are they're the ones you'll actually want to read. Whether its opinions on creating positive social change - or simply the valuable lessons learned along the way, here's a round-up of the past month's most interesting articles.

Early Insights from Sector-First Study Expose Alarming Sector Burnout

Amid the uncertainty of the ongoing pandemic, early insights from the RESET 2020 National Impact+Need September Survey indicate many social sector organisations are finding that in addition to the financial strain caused by COVID-19 restrictions, staff and volunteers are feeling increasingly anxious and stressed.

Social Enterprises Offer Ideal Career Option for Young People

Business or charity? For a long time, it seems like an "either or" career choice. In recent years, however, a new form of organization has come to the fore – social enterprises that use commercial means to solve social problems to achieve both "righteousness and profit" and to bring together business purposes and public welfare.

Victorian Social Enterprise Strategy Gets a Refresh

Victorian Social Enterprises are being urged to have their say in developing the state’s next social enterprise strategy, set to be released by the government in 2021.

How to Prototype Your Career as a Social Innovator

All of us look for purpose in the work we do — we want to feel that our efforts make a difference in some way, by making somebody’s life easier or making the world a better place. But when we think about becoming a ‘social innovator’, we can put ourselves off by overestimating what’s involved.

Government Steps in to Stop Huge Funding Shortfall for Social Sector

The Federal Government has avoided a funding cliff for community organisations that help people dealing with family violence, isolation and drug problems with a multimillion-dollar commitment to the sector.

The Importance of Understanding Depression in 2020

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 78% of Australians said their mental health was impacted. In July 2020, depression rates in Australia doubled. With much of the country experiencing complete social isolation at some point this year, with limited access to the things that make us feel lighter and warmer and happier, it’s no wonder that the black dog has stormed its way into homes and workplaces.

The Hard-Earned Lessons of a Cross-Border Social Business Partnership

Social enterprises are sprouting up all over the world, but in some areas the movement is slower to get off the ground. Although international programmes can be of huge support to local pioneers, it’s not quite as simple as transposing experience from one country onto another.

New Social Impact Bond Focuses on Disengaged Students

The Victorian government is launching the state’s third social impact bond. Young Victorians who are disengaged from school and living with mental health conditions will be given extra support to complete their studies, through a new program from the state government and Melbourne City Mission.

How to Support Social Enterprise this Christmas

Christmas is a time for giving, sharing and celebrating, but it can also be a time that gets overwhelming with events, traditions and expectations — so how can you tie in your love for the work social enterprises are doing, with the never-ending Christmas to-do list?

What Do Business, The Unions and The Social Sector Think of The Budget?

CEO of the Business Council, Jennifer Westacott, ACTU president Michele O'Neill and Professor Ngiare Brown, Commissioner of the National Mental Health Commission, discuss the impact of the 2020 budget on business, workers and those on social services.

Unlocking AI’s Potential for Social Good

New developments in AI could spur a massive democratization of access to services and work opportunities, improving the lives of millions of people around the world and creating new commercial opportunities for businesses.

Co-operatives – The Slow Food of Social Enterprise?

Social enterprises hold great potential to make our world better. To realise this transformative potential, we must ensure the fullness and diversity of this sector is recognised and embraced – including co-operatives.

Cobras, India and Systems Thinking

While you might not have experience managing snake populations in India, parts of this story is likely familiar to most of us: the idea that problems are often more complex than they seem, and that well-intentioned ‘solutions’ can have unintended consequences and can even make a problem worse (this is now known as the ‘Cobra Effect’).

Why We Need a Different Type of Social Enterprise Hub in Australia

The current social enterprise system favours the white middle class. It will take a different approach to give those from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to be the authors of their own change and to deliver a social enterprise that rivals any other, writes Andrew Curtis.

A Very Thatcher-Berg Budget Signals Tougher Times for The Social Purpose Sector

The headlines of this budget are around the substantial tax cuts, and “business leg” recovery investments being made, but behind the bluster and bang, there are deep structural crevasses this budget will cause for civil society.

Emerging Stronger From a Crisis

These battle-tested insights can help social enterprises increase their impact as they navigate severe crises like COVID-19.