The State of WA Social Innovation

Or they might simply be marginalised – we’ve worked with so many talented, passionate First Nations people looking to establish a social enterprise, and local champions hoping to start a community owned business on a pathway back to economic self determination. They just need a bit of support, or a roadblock removed, but instead they find themselves in a bifurcated system where you’re treated as either a charity, or a profit-only business.

Many people in the impact space serve those left behind in a one-dimensional race for profit and ‘jobs and growth’.  Others are working on systems change, and using different tools in the economic toolkit to innovate –  social innovation.

Almost a decade after Mark McGowan swept to power in WA and 3 years after the transition to Roger Cook, it’s a good time to reflect on what’s happened on the social innovation and impact investment policy front after a decade of Labor in power in WA.

So, what happened?

The Cook Labor State Government is in the middle of it’s third four-year term. It’s deep-in, and the best time for political capital to be spent and political will to be exerted by any new government is at the beginning. In the meantime:

• NSW established an Office of Social Impact Investment under the Baird Liberal Government in 2015, which continued under the new Minns Labor Government in 2023
• The Victorian govt doubled down with the release of the  Victorian Social Procurement Framework, and;
• the Victorian Social Enterprise Strategy (Victoria has 4,000 social enterprises contributing 60,000 jobs and $5B to the economy).
• the new Queensland LNP Government took the cake in 2025, funding a new Office of Social Impact and the sector more broadly with an $80M Social Enterprise Fund., building on the former Labor Government’s $2M social enterprise commitment
• Nationally, the Federal Govt funded a $40M Emerging Markets Impact Investment Fund (EMIIF), and the $15M InnovationXchange which includes $4M funding for impact investment intermediaries to develop the ecosystem; and;
• also funded the impact investment and social enterprise ecosystem nationally to the tune of $12M through the SEDI program, in addition to a Payment By Outcomes (PBO) trial

Congratulations are in order

..to all these other governments for these landmark initiatives and funding…

..but where does this leave the Cook Labor Government in Western Australia?

Well, Victoria began its public social enterprise infrastructure in 2008, and has sustained this effort across successive governments, so one could argue that there’s almost two lost decades for Western Australia in terms of policy initiative.

Sure, ‘innovation’ funding has gone to the tech startup space, and more towards economic development broadly, in recent years, but no policy to speak of focusing:

• social innovation
• social procurement
• social enterprise
• social impact bonds
• social impact investment

Government’s role is to lead and intervene in the case of market failure. In these areas, WA has a gaping, cavernous market failure, one desperately requiring policy leadership to innovate public and private spend towards our communities’ social good. And yet still in WA, we have.. crickets.

After 9+ years of Labor government in WA and tireless advocacy from leaders across the impact ecosystem, every major government in Australia both Labor and Liberal are still lapping WA (which hasn’t even left the starting post) on impact investment and social enterprise policy. It’s pretty easy to back this ecosystem..quick wins, low hanging fruit.. all the metaphors hold true.

I’ve never seen a government with so much political capital and power, so unwilling to spend it down.

(image: Fundación Avina)

What next? Innovation is understanding and accepting a risk of failure, and proceeding anyway.

Co investment and policy support is needed from the State Government so that we can put WA back on the impact leader board, scaling impact that delivers economic diversification and community wealth that spreads rapidly, not trickles down.

WA deserves better than politicians driven by election-cycles, or worse, a news-media led policy-approach. We deserve policy innovation, not fear of failure and fear of bad press.

When policy leaders across portfolios are ready to embrace a social innovation and social impact investment agenda, WA’s impact leaders will be there to demonstrate, connect and support the activation of models which have been proven in other states and around the world. Let’s call it a ‘risk-managed’ approach – WA isn’t re-inventing the wheel.