Homeless women across the country will be given the opportunity to gain financial independence and take control of their lives thanks to an announcement made today by the Australian Government to grant The Big Issue $1.2million to address a critical social need in Australia; employment opportunities for homeless and disadvantaged women.
The Minister for Employment Participation Mark Arbib and Senator Stephen Fielding announced Round 2 of the Government’s Get Communities Working projects under the Jobs Fund, which will see The Big Issue receive funding to establish a viable and sustainable social enterprise, providing appropriate employment, training and pathway opportunities for disadvantaged women in vulnerable situations.
“These projects will support and create jobs in communities hardest hit by unemployment and the global economic downturn, while providing much needed assistance to some of the most disadvantaged Australians,” Senator Arbib said.
“Support for social enterprises which provide training and employment opportunities to the long-term unemployed, homeless people and people with disability is one way to break the cycle of disadvantage and help people into meaningful long-term jobs.”
The Women’s Subscriptions Enterprise will initially employ 90 disadvantaged women and six professional staff through a model selling subscriptions to The Big Issue magazine, a long standing and quality product that currently reaches more than 130 000 Australians each fortnight.
Subscription sales will be achieved through professional telemarketing so there is no pressure on the women to sell and the program will be supported by The Big Issue’s existing governance, management, marketing and administration resources.
Disadvantaged women will be employed to work as Dispatch Assistants and collate, sort and insert the magazines every fortnight.
The Big Issue’s CEO Steven Persson said The Big Issue has been operating in Australia since 1996 and has successfully worked in helping thousands of homeless and disadvantaged Australians to help themselves.
“With the Street Magazine Enterprise showing remarkable outcomes over the past 14 years, predominantly for men, we recognised nearly three years ago that we needed to also establish a viable and sustainable social enterprise for women,” Mr Persson said.
“Since that time we have conducted an extensive feasibility study reviewing what work opportunities best meet needs of homeless and disadvantaged women and it brings us great pleasure to now see years of hard work come to fruition thanks to the support of the Australian Government.”
Head of Corporate Affairs for The Big Issue, Natalie Susman, said women made up 40 percent of those sleeping rough or in non-secure housing.
“The largest single cause of homelessness in Australia is domestic and family violence, which overwhelmingly affects women and children,” Ms Susman said.
“What we are doing is providing these women with safe and secure employment, training and pathway opportunities, giving them financial independence and ultimately allowing them to change their lives and have control over their futures.”
The Women’s Subscriptions Enterprise is entirely scalable – as subscriptions are sold, revenue is directed straight into the pockets of disadvantaged women, through provision of wages, training, mentoring and support.
“The enterprise is financially sustainable and totally viable after the start up phase through ongoing subscription sales,” Ms Susman concluded.
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