Photo credit- ADHD WA

As 2024 draws to a close, I’m proud to reflect on a year of progress and collaboration. Together, we’ve increased the visibility of social enterprise, grown social procurement spending and delivered new projects that are shaping a more inclusive and sustainable Australia.

Driving the third phase of our development

We launched our new strategy for the next phase of growth, as an industry body for social enterprise and responsible business.

We will support social enterprises to strengthen credibility, boost trade revenue, and scale for growth. At the same time, we’ll support businesses to meet responsible business goals – in social procurement and beyond, including measuring impact.

We’ve directed $843m in trade revenue to social enterprises in six years. Our ambition is to continue our year-on-year growth, underpinned by our social enterprise business model.

Building a thriving sector

This year, 34 new business and government members joined Social Traders, and 155 new social enterprises earned certification. We also strengthened relationships with new philanthropic and government partners. These milestones show the growing importance of social procurement, and the unique value social enterprises bring to Australia’s economy and communities.

RISE: A landmark sector report

On World Social Enterprise Day, we launched the Report on Identified Social Enterprises (RISE)—Australia’s most comprehensive analysis of the sector. Key findings included:

• Resilience: 86% of revenue comes from trade, with 68% of social enterprises reporting profits, outpacing SMEs and charities.

• Impact: 27% of revenue goes toward delivering social impact, with 43% of jobs supporting individuals facing barriers to employment.

That’s why we’re so passionate about social enterprise – it's a resilient mechanism for building a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Shared advocacy wins

It’s been a huge year of advocacy for the sector. Some of the biggest collective wins across the sector were:

• Commonwealth Government: new funding for the Department of Employment to deliver grants covering social enterprise wraparound costs, and funding for certification. The Economics Inquiry recommended social procurement and certification, and we participated in the Treasurers Social Impact Investing Working Group.

• NSW Government: Procurement Inquiry recommended social enterprise procurement targets and certification.

• QLD Government: committed $80M over four years to support the social enterprise sector.

• SA Government: funded a social enterprise development program.

• VIC Government: continued to show leadership, advocating alongside Social Traders to Commonwealth and other state governments.

Building partnerships

Collaboration is one of our values at Social Traders. We need all parts of the ecosystem working together to build a thriving social enterprise sector.

This year we formed a historic partnership with Supply Nation and WEConnect International, bringing together over 6,000 diverse suppliers and 1,000 businesses to expand social procurement across Australia.

We also joined the Council of Australian Social Enterprise Intermediaries (CASEI). This collaboration brings together Australia’s social enterprise intermediaries to deliver more joined-up support for the sector.

Looking to 2025

Every milestone achieved in 2024 reflects the power of collaboration—with businesses, social enterprises, philanthropy, peaks, intermediaries and governments coming together to expand social procurement and the impact of social enterprise.

A big thanks to the Social Traders team for their hard work and dedication this year. It’s a team of passionate and talented people that I’m proud to call colleagues.

As we move into 2025, our focus remains on strengthening the social enterprise ecosystem and empowering businesses to meet responsible business goals. The momentum we’ve built this year inspires us to aim even higher in the year ahead. I'm also very excited to announce that we'll be hosting Convene again in 2025 with pre-registration now open.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

And on behalf of all of us at Social Traders, we wish you a happy holiday season with friends and family.

Tara Anderson
CEO, Social Traders