University of Melbourne researchers to lead the National Social Enterprise Research Project
Image: The National Social Enterprise Research Project multidisciplinary research team – Professor Jo Barraket AM (Director, Melbourne Social Equity Institute), Professor Paul Jensen (Chair in Public Policy and Engagement, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research), Dr Trevor Kollman (Senior Research Fellow, School of Business, Law and Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University), Professor Michelle Evans (Director, Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership), Dr Libby Ward-Christie, (Director, Centre for Social Purpose Organisations)
A group of University of Melbourne researchers, led by Professor Jo Barraket AM, Director of Melbourne Social Equity Institute, has been commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) to undertake a national social enterprise sector research project to improve social enterprise data infrastructure and knowledge about these organisations.
Social enterprises are businesses that exist to produce public or community value, rather than maximise shareholder profits. Existing evidence suggests they contribute over $21 billion to the Australian economy and are positioned to play important roles in current policy reforms in Australia.
Social enterprises, however, experience a long-term challenge as a sector because they are variously regulated and defined, so reliable information about them is fragmented and not routinely available.
The project’s multidisciplinary team, involving academics from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research, Dilin Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership and Melbourne Business School’s Centre for Social Purpose Organisations, will work with DSS and leaders from the social economy ecosystem to establish a comprehensive and accurate dataset and insights about social enterprises, their characteristics and contributions.
The work will be carried out using a novel approach which integrates publicly available information with the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment stewarded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
“This project is a really exciting opportunity to better understand the contributions and characteristics of social enterprise in Australia and advance the data infrastructure needed to support longitudinal insights about the sector and its impacts,” Professor Barraket said.
“It is also a great chance to test how the project’s methods and infrastructure can be leveraged to better understand Australia’s wider social economy, data gaps about which have been acknowledged for over 30 years.”
The research will be conducted in six phases over the next 12 months. For updates, visit the National Social Enterprise Research Project webpage.
Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services