Social Enterprise Development Initiative

Overview

The Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI) was announced in the 2023–24 budget as part of the Targeting Entrenched Disadvantage package. This commits $11.6 million to support the growth of the social enterprise sector.

SEDI aims to support social enterprises to be more efficient and effective in delivering social benefits to vulnerable Australians.

SEDI supports social enterprises by providing funding for:

• grants of up to $120,000 to social enterprises to grow their business, scale their impact and further their mission to support Australians experiencing disadvantage
• capability building across the broader social enterprise sector through an online resource available to all and shaped by all who choose to take part.

Engaging with the sector

We worked with Social Enterprise Australia (SEA) to gather social enterprise sector views. SEA collected ideas and views through workshops and surveys. Read the summary of the views(Opens external website) collected by SEA.

How SEDI works

SEDI has been designed to provide capability building support to the social enterprise sector in different ways — from supporting individual social enterprises through grants, right through to support for a sector owned online space for all those in the sector to learn and exchange.

We have partnered with 2 organisations from the sector to deliver SEDI:

• Impact Investing Australia(Opens external website) (IIA), as the SEDI Capability Building Grants Administrator
• SEA, as the SEDI Education and Mentoring Coordinator. SEA is stewarding and coordinating Understorey(Opens external website) – a place to learn and exchange about social enterprise.

Working with these organisations means we can be more flexible and creative in how SEDI works. It also helps embed SEDI in the sector.

We are working with SEA and IIA to bring all the parts of SEDI together into one program.

SEDI Grants Administrator

After an open, competitive grant round for the SEDI Grants Administrator, IIA(Opens external website) was selected for the role.

IIA has the experience and connections with the sector to administer capability building grants.

As the Grants Administrator, IIA is providing capability building grants to social enterprises. Each grant to a social enterprise is for up to $120,000 which can be used to buy capability building support, such as:

• business planning
• financial management
• contract negotiation
• legal support
• outcomes measurement and evaluation
• help to access finance such as investment loans or grants. 

Visit IIA(Opens external website) for more information.

A focus for SEDI is First Nations and regional and rural social enterprises. We strongly encourage applications from these groups.

Applying for a SEDI Capability Building Grant

Applications are now open for social enterprises to apply for a SEDI Capability Building Grant of up to $120,000. It is anticipated that over the life of the program, approximately 50 to 60 grants will be awarded through a series of competitive application and assessment rounds. Applications for a grant will remain open until 30 September 2025. This will allow for organisations awarded a grant in late 2025 to have time to complete their grant activities by the end of the SEDI program in June 2026. The SEDI Grants Assessment Panels meet at regular intervals.

SEDI Capability Building Grants will help social enterprises purchase business and impact capability building services. These services can be from intermediaries and other businesses that support social enterprises to grow their business, scale their impact and further their mission to support Australians experiencing disadvantage.

Finding the right organisation to support individual capability building within each social enterprise is essential. IIA provides a list of possible organisations to approach. This list is not exhaustive and social enterprises can apply with any intermediary or business they believe will assist in achieving the required grant outcomes. There is no approved list of intermediaries for the SEDI Capability Building Grants.

Social enterprises are also encouraged to discuss the cost and contractual terms and conditions with any organisation they are considering working with and to only enter into an arrangement if comfortable that the cost is appropriate for the activity and the terms and conditions are fair.

If you have any questions about the contractual terms and conditions proposed by an organisation in relation to a SEDI Capability Building Grant, we encourage you to reach out to IIA for advice at enquiries@impactinvestingaustralia.com.

The initiative supports social enterprises across all states and territories and includes a focus on supporting those social enterprises in regional and remote locations and First Nations social enterprises.

For information about the SEDI Capability Building Grants, including a full list of the eligibility criteria and the Expression of Interest Form, visit  IIA(Opens external website).

Intermediaries can contact IIA directly if they would like to be included on the list of possible SEDI capability building support providers. Please note there are no SEDI accredited intermediaries.

We also note that workshops and information sessions on the SEDI Capability Building Grants are only considered to be official if organised by the Department, IIA or SEA.

SEDI Education and Mentoring Coordinator

The SEDI online education and mentoring activities will help develop and grow the sector. The activities have been designed to create whole of sector resources and support to sit alongside the individualised support the SEDI grants provide.

If your social enterprise missed out on receiving a SEDI Capability Building Grant, you can still access a range of education and mentoring resources at Understorey(Opens external website).

SEA is the SEDI Education and Mentoring Coordinator. SEA is well placed to support SEDI because they were created by the sector to represent the sector’s interests. SEA's mission aligns with the goals of the SEDI Education and Mentoring activity. This partnership means the sector will have a voice in SEDI.

To support the SEDI, SEA is:

• commissioning learning and peer mentoring communities
• curating leading practice materials, tools, or training modules, and commissioning new ones where gaps exist
• pointing to and bringing these elements together in one site online – Understorey(Opens external website) – to help people navigate the sector
• ensuring sector needs and input inform Understorey’s development: including rural and regional, First Nations, and culturally and linguistically marginalised voices.

Understorey hosts, points to, and integrates with a range of quality resources about social enterprise.

SEA will not reinvent what exists and works well to meet sector needs. It will identify and fill key gaps.

Working with the social enterprise sector on the SEDI 

In our engagement with the sector in 2023, we learnt that there needs to be a central place for the sector to learn, navigate and exchange to grow social enterprise impact.

We recognise that a range of tools and platforms across the social enterprise sector exist. These tools facilitate finding sector actors and information. On 30 June 2024, SEA launched Understorey(Opens external website) – a place to learn and exchange about social enterprise. Understorey is a place for diverse input, ideas and voices, including marginalised voices. It hosts, points to, and integrates with a range of quality resources about social enterprise. It will change and grow over time.

We encourage anyone in the sector to reach out to SEA with any ideas or feedback in the delivery of the SEDI. Please email hello@socialenterpriseaustralia.org.au.

To find out more about getting involved visit SEA(Opens external website).