Do you know of a resource that could benefit the social enterprise sector?
Submit resource
-1.png)
Understorey is shaped by the people and organisations across Australia. Have suggestions, ideas or resources to share? Get in touch and help us make Understorey more useful, relevant and accessible for everyone.
Get in touch
Search and explore practical tools, guides, research, case studies and other resources from across the sector. Use the search and filters to find information relevant to your interests, needs and work.
Help keep this library relevant and useful. Suggest a new educational resource or recommend an update.
Overnight loss of two major clients halved ASA's revenue and exposed structural vulnerabilities built during growth. This work integration social enterprise (WISE) case study examines how employment model design, geographic expansion, and philanthropic incentives shaped, and complicated, the path to recovery.
Australian Spatial Analytics (ASA) case study (page 12)
This resource introduces Challenge-Led Innovation (CLI) as a framework to address complex, large-scale challenges like climate change and inequality. Based on ‘Mission-oriented’ approaches developed by Mariana Mazzucato at UCL IIPP, CLI moves away from traditional innovation models by focusing on collaborative, mission-driven efforts across sectors and communities.
Challenge-led Innovation Workbook
Governance breakdown, frozen funding pipelines, and a lost premises hit simultaneously. This work integration social enterprise (WISE) case study follows Dismantle's CEO and board as they navigated near-insolvency, and what they learned about financial capability, funder relationships, and leadership fatigue.
Dismantle case study (page 3)
Ten years of culturally safe, trauma-informed employment for refugees ended in closure. Free to Feed's founder and board chair speak honestly about why, as a work integration social enterprise (WISE), impact costs and trade income are in permanent tension, and what that meant when funding fell short.
Free to Feed case study (page 6)
Covering 93% of costs through trade, this work integration social enterprise (WISE) looked close to financial independence, then a new venture failed badly. Green Collect's case study explores what happens when growth projections don't meet reality, and how the organisation rebuilt with greater clarity and resilience.
Green Collect case study (page 9)
This case study tells the story of Perth City Farm and its role as a social enterprise. It highlights how the Farm makes money through various activities while supporting the community and sustainability. It also offers lessons for others looking to build strong, local social enterprises.
Perth City Farm as a Social Enterprise.png?w=192)
This case study, published by BCCM and written by Antony McMullen, shares practical lessons from Hepburn Energy's Taryn Lane on how co-operatives can raise community investment. It explores tools like member shares and debentures, and argues that trust and community design matter as much as the finance itself.
Raising Community Investment: Building the Co-operative Before Raising the Money