How the program began?
With The Big Issue's Street Magazine Enterprise showing remarkable outcomes over the past 15 years, predominately for men, in 2007 The Big Issue recognised that there was a need to establish a viable and sustainable social enterprise for women
The Women’s Subscription Enterprise was a result of an extensive Feasibility Study funded by the Minister for Housing and Minister for the Status of Women, the Hon Tanya Plibersek, MP.
The study had a number of key, inter-related aims, including…
- A review of what work opportunities best met the needs of homeless and disadvantaged women;
- A review and business case of potential markets for a subscriptions service for The Big Issue Magazine;
- Development of a business model for a subscriptions service for The Big Issue Magazine;
In March 2010, the Australian Government announced they would invest $1.2 million in the Women’s Subscriptions Enterprise under the Jobs Fund. This capital investment will seed fund the social enterprise and see disadvantaged women employed in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide by the end of 2011.