Social enterprises
"Social enterprises are businesses that trade to intentionally tackle social problems, improve communities, provide people access to employment and training or help the environment". This is the definition from Social Traders, an acknowledged provider of support and resources to the social enterprise community in Australia, including a supplier portal.
Social enterprises are thriving in Darebin, over a variety of industry sectors. From the well-established like Clean Force Property Services and the Fair Food division of the CERES group to start-up social enterprises.
Jobs for the Future - Social Enterprise Support Fund videos
Through 2022/23, Darebin Council supported nine Darebin social enterprises through the Social Enterprise Support Fund.
The successful funding recipients were Arts Project Australia, Birds and Beans Cafe, Circus Nexus, Farmwall, Ceres Fair Wood, Fungi Solutions, Melbourne Farmers Market, Reground and Paperloop.
This video campaign celebrates the stories behind each funding recipient. An opportunity for these social enterprise champions to share with the wider Darebin community, the importance of the funding and what it meant for their organisation, its staff and critically the community in which it operates.
All nine videos are available to watch on Darebin Council's YouTube channel.
Watch the Social Enterprise videos
Resources
We are supporting the growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned or operated businesses through our membership of Kinaway and the promotion of local Aboriginal businesses on our business map.
Many of Darebin's social enterprises can be found on our business map.
In addition to the support provided by Darebin's Economic Recovery and Resilience team, there are resources available through:
SENVIC (the Social Enterprise Network Victoria) provides training, workshops and connections through networking, and other resources from the Victorian State Government.
The recently updated Social Procurement Framework encourages social enterprise to grow by participating in major project procurement.
Other social enterprise support services in and around Darebin include: