Building evidence, alongside impact.
In a unique role as a national aggregator, White Box is working with eight social enterprises and values-led employers to support people into real jobs while capturing collective data on what works, what it costs, and what leads to sustainable employment outcomes.
About WorkFoundations
WorkFoundations is a national grant program funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR).
It is designed to support people who face significant and complex barriers to employment such as long-term unemployment, limited work experience, or non-vocational challenges by covering the support costs of their employment journeys.
The goal is to help these job seekers build their work readiness in real workplaces, earn wages, gain confidence, and progress toward long-term, sustainable employment.
The program funds social enterprises and values-aligned businesses to deliver six-month, award-wage employment placements that are tailored, supportive, and focused on building confidence, skills, and long-term work readiness.
White Box’s unique role
White Box has received a WorkFoundations grant to act as an aggregator for this program. This gives us a unique opportunity to work directly with a group of social enterprises and values-led employers across Australia, capturing key data and insights along the way that can be shared with the sector and government.
Our eight partner organisations will place over 50 people collectively who’ve been out of work for 12+ months into real jobs, supported with on-the-job training, mentoring, and other wrap-around supports. And in return they’ll receive funding to cover the costs associated with these supports.
In the background, White Box is creating a space for shared learnings, collaboration, and evidence building: tracking what works, what it costs, and how social enterprises are helping people out of long-term unemployment.
Who we're partnering with...
Our employee target groups
We're working with social enterprises and values-aligned organisations that are committed to supporting one or more of these target groups:
- CALD individuals registered with a Workforce Australia Services provider
- Young people (15–24) who are completely disengaged from work and education, and registered with a Transition to Work provider
- Women registered with a Workforce Australia or Parent Pathways provider
Evaluation: Proving what works
The WorkFoundations program isn’t just about creating jobs. For us, it’s about demonstrating the value of employment-focused social enterprise.
Over the life of the program, White Box will lead a comprehensive evaluation, capturing detailed data across all participating organisations. We’ll be tracking:
- Employment retention
- Support costs
- Participant outcomes
This evaluation will give us a clear, evidence-based view of what it takes to support people with complex barriers into mainstream employment, and how social enterprises and impact-first employers deliver that impact.