about
The need for innovative approaches to social, economic and environmental challenges faced by Aboriginal people and communities in remote Australia is evident in the persistent failure of well-intended policies and initiatives.
Social enterprise is a model for delivering social impact, that combines community leadership and involvement with the experience of a global movement. As market-based approaches to social challenges, social enterprises simultaneously provide stakeholders, including investors and funders, with social and financial returns: so-called blended value.
A social enterprise hub supports social enterprise and social entrepreneurs, to catalyse new ideas, sustain ventures and scale impact.
the story so far
The Desert Peoples Centre (DPC), with support from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, developed a plan for a social enterprise hub in central Australia.
This plan was the result of extensive consultation between the DPC, local businesses and leading organisations from Australia’s emerging social enterprise sector.
This process contextualised social enterprise and deepened local understanding of how it might assist in creating social impact and enabling sustainable livelihoods for Aboriginal people.
There are many benefits for Aboriginal communities in an enterprise model that links profit outcomes with strong social outcomes. We believe that this form of enterprise is a natural fit with Aboriginal cultural, social and economic aspirations and provides exciting and previously uncharted opportunities.
the desert hub’s purpose
Our vision: social impact through enterprise.
Our mission: to catalyse a thriving social enterprise sector in desert Australia.
The Hub has three fundamental objectives — link, grow and navigate:
- Link: Catalyse connectivity between challenges, ideas, resources and social enterprise to create social impact for Desert Australia.
- Grow: Scale a thriving social enterprise sector in Desert Australia through support for innovation, entrepreneurship and community.
- Navigate: Create, map and guide pathways of the social economy to optimise the impact of the social enterprise sector in Desert Australia.
We work with social enterprises and the people who lead them to sustain and scale the positive social impact that they create.
