Beyond employment: what WISEs can do for philanthropy 

Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) play a critical role in creating meaningful award wage jobs, training and self-employment opportunities for people facing complex barriers to mainstream work across Australia. At a time of economic pressure, social fragmentation, rising division, social isolation and environmental stress, WISEs offer something both practical and deeply responsive. 

Westpac Foundation and GoodWolf Partners have created a resource Philanthropy Australia members can access which explains what WISEs are, why they are important and what it takes for them to succeed. 

The Working Better Together: WISE Learn Book is grounded in real-world experience, drawing on two decades of Westpac Foundation’s work and the contributions of two advisory groups of WISE practitioners, philanthropic funders and sector leaders. 

What this means for funders 

The Learn Book was designed with philanthropy front of mind, it is an invitation to new funders to learn more and offers encouragement to existing funders to refine their practice and deepen their commitment. It makes the case for long-term, flexible support and investment in leadership, governance and financial capability. Its central message goes further: WISEs are not just the concern of a small group of specialist funders. They are relevant to any philanthropist seeking impactful solutions to entrenched social and economic challenges.  

For funders focused on inclusive participation, justice reintegration, environmental sustainability, regional opportunity, social cohesion or place-based disadvantage, the Learn Book shows how WISEs offer a practical model for creating access to decent work and economic inclusion. 

A moment of policy opportunity 

Public narratives about WISEs often focus on high-profile closures or standout success stories. While both matter, between them sits a more complex and instructive reality: organisations on the front-line are navigating impact costs, supporting complex cohorts with tailored needs, and managing the tensions between survival, scale and staying true to purpose These realities are underpinned by the clear evidence that Australia’s WISEs create real, lasting and overwhelmingly positive impacts for people facing the toughest barriers to work. 

At a systems level, the Learn Book explains that WISEs have been operating largely outside Australia’s employment services system, and that better data, stronger policy settings and coordinated advocacy are needed to unlock the sector’s full potential. With a major overhaul of Australia’s employment services  underway and social enterprises named as part of the solution, it’s worth considering what it would take to fully enable WISEs to operate within a system at scale, with tailored impact costs funded together with an evidence based, impact led and collective approach.

WISEs as vehicles for broader philanthropic goals 

WISEs have an important role in creating a more just society. Describing WISEs solely as specialist employment models misses their broader contribution to community wellbeing and the opportunity for WISE to achieve broader philanthropic goals. They create real jobs and with them, belonging, structure, confidence, dignity, skills and self-belief. They are places where people who have often been excluded from mainstream systems can contribute, earn, learn and reconnect with a sense of possibility.  

Dismantle has supported young people facing significant disadvantage, creating pathways where traditional systems have failed. Bama Services shows how Indigenous-owned enterprise together with tailored wellbeing support can transform the lives of young First Nations people. Green Collect demonstrates how WISEs can address environmental challenges and create jobs at the same time and Australian Spatial Analytics shows what’s possible when neurodivergent talent is recognised. We also worked alongside organisations like All Things Equal and SisterWorks, which remind us that WISEs can transform the way employers and society view people with disability and migrants. 

These examples confirm that WISEs are not only about job numbers and like social enterprise more broadly they are vehicles for social cohesion, environmental sustainability, local innovation, economic participation, cultural safety and self-determination.  

The WISE Learn Book includes deep insights, a practical grantmaking guide and case studies with key learnings for philanthropy, offering tools for funders wanting to better understand these models, assess risk proportionately and support WISEs with greater confidence.  

The WISE Learn Book is a Philanthropy Australia member-only resource – it can be accessed on the Philanthropy Australia Better Giving Hub: Working Better Together: A WISE Learn Book.  

Further resources and reading:  

• Rethinking Sustainability and Scaling: Lessons from a WISE Learn Book 
• New report calls for shifts in how philanthropy supports the country’s social enterprise ecosystem – Philanthropy Australia 
• Five things WISEs can take from Westpac Foundation’s Learn Book – White Box Enterprises 

About the authors:
Lisa Waldron is a passionate champion of social enterprise. Over two decades, she designed and led a corporate philanthropic strategy that combined catalytic and collaborative funding approaches that supported social enterprises to create more than 10,000 inclusive employment opportunities for people facing complex barriers to work. Her approach included ecosystem investments together with integrated financial and non‑financial support for leaders and emerging/scaling social enterprises through collaboratively governed, relationship‑based multi‑year and pooled‑funding models. 

Loretta Bolotin is a Senior Consultant at GoodWolf and a social impact strategist and entrepreneur. She has over 17 years’ experience driving community outcomes, including more than a decade in senior leadership across the for-purpose and social enterprise sectors. She brings deep practitioner insight, a strong track record of building trusted relationships, and a commitment to elevating underrepresented voices.

Image source: Sisterworks