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We bring people
together in each federal electorate (150 electorates around
Australia) to work locally in engaging our communities and our
representatives in a non-party, neither-left-nor-right
agenda of empowerment of ordinary people.
CLICK HERE to join us. |
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SELF-DIRECTED
SERVICES AND PERSONAL BUDGETS
You can take charge of your social support, education and health
care through a personal budget.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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AGM SEASON
Making a difference in our not-for-profits.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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STREET BY STREET
Linking
up people who live in the same
street or nearby to build community through practical helping
tasks - on a national scale.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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COMMUNITY BUILDING
NATIONAL NETWORK
CLICK HERE
to participate in the
Network. |
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LEFT AND RIGHT?
"The Left and Right have been as bad as each other. The Left has
allowed its distrust of markets and endless faith in government
to obscure the importance of civil society. The Right has been
so focused on replacing the state with markets that it has
forgotten how to cultivate a trusting society.
This is the politics of the absurd. The Left identifies with the
good society but rarely talks about the mutualism and trust
between people. The Right recognises the importance of moral
obligation but gives the impression of trusting market
transactions more than civil society.
Few things seem to happen anymore
without a government law or market transaction to guide
them. This is how record levels of GDP in Australia now sit
alongside record levels of crime, social stress and family
breakdown. The political balance needs to swing back towards
civil society.
This task, in fact, requires a new type of politics."
Mark Latham, Mutualism: A Third Way for Australia," 1999.
CLICK HERE
to read more. |
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are caring for an ill or disabled family member at home, please click
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Family CarERS SURVEY |
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A leadership and
public voice for social enterprise
in Australia
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The Social Enterprise Coalition Australia was formed on 29th July 2009 in
Melbourne. It is a peer-generated leadership voice and strategic development
tool for the emerging social enterprise
sector in Australia.
Membership of the Coalition is open to all social
enterprises who meet the eligibility criteria (below).
There is no cost. The Coalition is a lean
development-oriented innovation-focussed network - it is not a provider of
services or member benefits, nor is it a consultancy.
Members of the inaugural Leadership Council
of the Coalition, and our founding
Statement of Purpose
are below.
To join the Coalition, complete this online
membership form.
Leadership Council
The members of
the inaugural Leadership Council of the Coalition are:
Dianne Batterham, General Manager,
Westgate Health Cooperative, South Kingsville VIC
Denis Grehan, CEO, Maroondah Credit
Union, Ringwood VIC
Greg
Peel, CEO, Community Sector Banking,
Bendigo VIC
John Simpson, CEO, Finding
Workable Solutions, Mt Barker SA
Peter Collins, Business
Manager, Bleeding Heart, Brisbane QLD
Robert Pekin, CEO
and Enterprise Coordinator, FoodConnect, Brisbane
QLD
Paul Knight, Managing
Director, Djenbella Group, Sydney NSW
Peter Challis, CEO, Wangaratta
and Wodonga Credit Union, Wodonga VIC
Mark Thomson, Director,
The TVS Partnership, Brisbane QLD
Robert Chewying, Managing
Director, ChewYings Lawn and Horticulture, Nowra NSW
Gail Slocombe, CEO, PeakCare,
Brisbane QLD
Simon Cox, Employment
Training Coordinator, HopeStreet, Sydney NSW
Cynthia Nadai, Director Balmain
/ Rozelle Community Bank© a branch of
Bendigo Bank, NSW
Vern Hughes, Director,
Social Enterprise Partnerships, North Melbourne VIC
Statement of Purpose
1. A social
enterprise is a financially independent, market-based business for a
social purpose. It may be for-profit or not-for-profit.
2. The social enterprise sector in
Australia is large and diverse but lacks a peer-generated leadership, a
public voice, and shared tools for strategic development and innovation.
3.
The Social Enterprise Coalition will be a leadership vehicle and voice
for social enterprises in Australia. Its governing body will be a
Leadership Council comprising representatives from:
a.
cooperatives and mutuals
b. for-profits with a social purpose
c. community
sector ventures for a social purpose
d. indigenous businesses and social enterprises
e. rural
community businesses and social enterprises
f. environmental
businesses and social enterprises
g. consumer
empowerment businesses
4. The Coalition will be a leadership
vehicle and public voice, not a provider of services or member benefits. It will speak to governments and the
general public on the value of social enterprise and engage them in the
growth and development of the social enterprise sector.
5. The Coalition will advocate against government
interference in the social enterprise field. It will not seek special
industry assistance but will seek major regulatory reform in creating a
favourable operating environment for social enterprise.
6. The Coalition will advocate for a key role for
social enterprise in the break-up and reform of service delivery in
health, education, housing, indigenous affairs, community services,
rural affairs and environmental innovation.
Membership
Membership of the Coalition is open to all social
enterprises that meet the following eligibility criteria:
Applicants for membership must:
1. Be an independent business;
2. Have traded for more than one year and earn
50% or more of its income from trading;
3. Allocate a significant proportion of profit
for social or community or environmental benefit.
To join the Coalition, complete this online
membership form.
The following table outlines the types of
evidence that may be required.
| An eligible enterprise
will: |
Notes/Explanation |
Be an
independent business
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An eligible organisation must be an
independent business and not part of the public or charitable sector. If
an auspicing body is a public authority (such as a municipality, health
organisation, or university), or a community organisation (such as
welfare agency, sporting club, or arts body) then evidence is required
that the social enterprise is a separate trading entity with
independent governance. |
Have traded
for a minimum of one year and earn 50% or more of its income from
trading |
The organisation must earn 50% or more
of its income through trading (evidence from audited accounts may be
requested).
Trading is defined as ‘the direct exchange of goods and services’.
This definition of trading excludes government grants, philanthropic
grants and donations. |
| Distribute
all or a significant proportion of profit for social or community or
environmental benefit |
Evidence may be required of how the
business distributes profit.
If the trading activity of the social
enterprise is, in itself, socially beneficial (such as employment of
disadvantaged people, or sales of produce of disadvantaged people), then
direct reinvestment of profit in the business is socially beneficial.
If income is distributed to individual
members or shareholders who have a co-operative form of participation in
the business, then this is, in itself, socially beneficial. If income is
otherwise distributed to individuals, then evidence is required that at
least 50% of profit is distributed for social or community or
environmental benefit.
If profit is earned through commercial
trading activity specifically to generate income for another
organisation or organisational shareholders, then evidence may be
required as to whether this use is socially beneficial.
Where investors receive a share of
profits from a business, evidence may be required that at least 30% of
profit is distributed for social benefit before returns are distributed
to investors. |
To join the Coalition, complete this online
membership form.
Enquiries
Vern Hughes
vern@civilsociety.org.au
PO Box 159 Yarraville Vic 3013
Tel: 0425 722 890
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©
Centre for Civil Society 2007-2009 | |
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TRANSFORMING OUR
SCHOOLS
CLICK HERE for
details of our campaign for a Real Education Revolution.
CLICK HERE
for
info on the National
Federation of Parents, Families and Carers. |
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STREET BY STREET
Information Workshops
Brisbane 1 September Sydney 3 September
Melbourne 10 September
CLICK HERE for details. |
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CORPORATE
WELFARE WATCH
Latest Handout Tally
$6.4b Car manufacturers subsidies
$2b Commercial property construction industry
$3.9b Free emission permits to coal-fired electricity generators
$2b Car dealer finance guarantee
$149m GMH 4 cylinder car
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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THIRD WAY FORUM
Communitarianism,
Mutualism, Third Way Thinking
CLICK HERE
to find out more. |
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MAKING IT PERSONAL
Charlie Leadbeater, Jamie
Bartlett and Niamh Gallagher have authored this highly
influential Demos Report on Self-Directed Services
and Personal Budgets.
CLICK HERE
to read
Making It Personal. |
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RESPECT
EMPOWER
INCLUDE |
Participate in our five-point
non-party-political campaign to empower ordinary people.
CLICK HERE
to join us and to express an interest in Convening in your
electorate. |
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Family Carers
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There are 2.7million
family carers of people with a disability, a chronic or mental
illness, or aged frailty in Australia. They are invisible to
politicians and policy makers.
Read more... |
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Standing Up to Telstra and
the Big Four Banks |
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Help us create a
voice for consumers. Read more... |
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How to Use this Website
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Society - including an overview of our current
CAMPAIGNS
and
POLICIES
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