Global standards
The five global standards make clear what a social enterprise is, providing a simple and transparent framework recognised worldwide.
They outline that social enterprises do five things:
- Exist to solve a social or environmental problem
- Prioritise purpose, people, and planet over profit in operational decisions
- Have a self-sustaining revenue model
- Reinvest the majority of any surplus towards their purpose
- Choose legal structures and financing that protect and lock-in purpose long term
State and territory peak bodies in Australia use the global standards to verify social enterprises.
To become a Social Enterprise Member, organisations must meet the minimum threshold across the standards: including at least one point on each standard, and two points on the revenue standard.