More than 53,000 Australian women experience homelessness every night without safe or secure housing. And we know the largest causes of homelessness in Australia are domestic violence and family violence, which overwhelmingly affects women and children. Ten years ago, The Big Issue saw an urgent need to expand our social enterprises and provide safe, female-friendly employment opportunities to women.
The Women’s Workforce was established in 2010 to meet this need and began by providing employment opportunities to women experiencing marginalisation and disadvantage through packing and sending subscription copies of The Big Issue magazine. As the skills of our women and size of our workforce increased, we started fulfilling procurement jobs for government and corporate organisations, providing business to business services with a social impact.
Since inception, The Women’s Workforce has employed 200 women to complete contracted project work, which in turn provides financial empowerment, improved mental health and hope for a brighter future. When you enlist The Women’s Workforce, you will be using your buying power to employ and empower our team of women who are working hard to improve their circumstances.
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Equipped with a diverse range of skills, our workforce can upscale and take on any procurement job at short notice. Our range includes work from less than 500 units to upwards of 20,000 units, with short turnaround times of 3 days to several months for longer-term projects.
We offer flexibility and diversity across a range of social procurement services including (but not limited to):
- Picking and packing
- Mail house services
- Data entry
- Custom projects
- Staff and client gift hampers
- Dispatching
- Event support
Our workforce completes work on time, to an exceptional quality and at a commercially competitive rate. The Big Issue holds existing strong relationships with printers, suppliers and other social enterprises, putting us in good position to secure competitive production rates on behalf of our clients and partner with third parties to deliver on social procurement criteria.
Our workforce has worked on projects for high profile companies, government departments, not-for-profits and start up organisations. Examples of some of the organisations we have worked with are:
Since 2010, 200 women have been employed in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. When you enlist our workforce, you will be using your buying power to employ and empower our team of women who are working hard to improve their circumstances.
Who We Help
Each woman employed by The Women’s Workforce is proudly working to positively change their lives. For many, their past experiences have left them isolated and without a solid network to rely upon. Through The Women’s Workforce, our employees not only gain financial independence and a sense of empowerment, but also form meaningful connections with each other and the wider Big Issue community.
When you enlist the Women’s Workforce, you will be using your buying power to employ and empower our team of women who are working hard to improve their circumstances. Along with making a difference in their lives, you will receive a high-quality service at a commercially competitive rate.
Why The Women’s Workforce
In Australia, procurement has the potential to create significant social change. Government and business procurement are worth an estimated $600 billion each year. If even a fraction of this money was spent procuring from a social enterprise, the benefits to our community would be profound.
The Women’s Workforce provides business-to-business services with a social impact. When companies buy services from a social enterprise like The Women’s Workforce, the project has positive outcomes for the community, as well as their business. It’s a simple and effective way to have an immediate social impact as a built-in part of an organisations supply chain and day-to-day business operations.
Social Impact Reporting
When you engage The Women’s Workforce for your social procurement needs, we will provide you with a bespoke social impact report outlining the direct impact you have made. The report will include a summary of work completed and the number of women who were employed to complete the work. Where possible, we will include photographs of the women who were employed.
Q: Do you offer services nationally?
The Women’s Workforce operates in four states (VIC, NSW, SA, WA) or offsite.
Q: How do I arrange a quote for work?
Please fill out the form below and we will be in touch with an estimate.
Q: Are your rates competitive in the marketplace?
The Women’s Workforce is commercially competitive in price whilst providing a quality service. We pride ourselves on paying our women with award rates paid at a minimum of four hours per shift so they can earn a meaningful income. You will receive a quote for your required job promptly upon enquiry. The quote will be detailed and transparent, outlining all costings involved.
Q: Do you offer printing and mailing service?
The Women’s Workforce can arrange an itemised quote of all required tasks for your job including printing, labelling, packing, mailing and distribution. The Big Issue holds existing strong relationships with printers, suppliers and other social enterprises, putting us in a good position to secure competitive production rates on behalf of our clients and partner with third parties to deliver on social procurement criteria. Alternatively, you can provide pre-printed work for us to pack.
Q: Do you have a minimum or maximum job size that you can accommodate?
The Women’s Workforce have the ability to scale up or down at short notice and can be flexible to work with your needs. We have assisted with a number of micro jobs with only one employee (plus supervisor), all the way up to larger jobs with several women working across multiple states.
For more information on The Women’s Workforce please fill out the form below.
Changing Lives
Each woman employed by The Women’s Workforce is proudly working to positively change their lives. If you are interested in becoming part of The Women’s Workforce please contact us through the form below.
