White Box Enterprises has released a compelling new report exploring what Australia can learn from one of the world's most established work integration systems, as the Australian Government redesigns the nation's employment services system.
Lessons from France: Embedding Work Integration Social Enterprises in the National Employment System draws on more than two years of research and engagement with French government agencies, national social enterprise organisations and employment experts, including two research visits and a study tour led by White Box for Australian philanthropy and jobs-focused social enterprise leaders.
The report examines how France has embedded jobs-focused social enterprises within its national employment system and explores the practical lessons that could help inform Australia's own reforms.
Why France?
Since the 1990s, France has built an impressive work integration system, with around 4,500 Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) supporting approximately 168,000 people each year. The report highlights the system's strong employment outcomes, with more than half of participants remaining in employment or training six months after leaving a WISE.
What makes France particularly interesting is the clearly articulated role WISEs play within the national employment system. Rather than operating on the margins, WISEs are recognised as a core part of the employment ecosystem, with defined responsibilities and referral pathways.
Underpinning this is an employment support payment known as the aide au poste. Through it, the French Government funds the supervision, coaching and wrap-around support that enables WISEs to create sustainable employment opportunities for people facing significant barriers to work.
Showing what’s possible
White Box Chief Operating Officer Mark Daniels, who led the Australian delegation to France, alongside White Box Head of Partnerships Nico Deloux, said the study tour challenged many assumptions about the role jobs-focused social enterprises can play within an employment system.
"When you spend time with organisations across France, you start asking what is holding us back from doing the same thing in Australia,” he said.
"What stood out wasn't just what individual organisations were doing. It was how intentionally the whole system had been designed. WISEs have a clearly defined role, they're funded to provide the support people need, and they're connected to the broader employment system.
"Australia has an incredible opportunity to build on the strengths we already have. We hope this report helps shape a vision for what our employment system could become and sparks a conversation about how we get there."
What Australia can take from it
As well as painting a comprehensive picture of how the French system works, the report provides a practical framework for understanding how WISEs can be embedded within a national employment system. It explains the role WISEs play alongside government and mainstream employment services, how they are funded and regulated, and how different parts of the system work together to support people facing barriers to employment.
Drawing on these insights, the report sets out a series of practical recommendations to help strengthen Australia's employment system, including:
- Recognising jobs-focused social enterprises as a core part of the employment system alongside mainstream employment services.
- Recognising and funding the real cost of work integration, acknowledging the additional support required to help people facing significant barriers into sustainable employment.
- Building a more connected employment ecosystem, with stronger referral pathways and funding models that prioritise long-term employment outcomes.
Together, these recommendations point to how Australia can build a more coordinated, inclusive and effective employment system.
At a time of significant reform, there is real value in looking beyond our own borders. France offers decades of experience embedding jobs-focused social enterprises at the heart of its employment system.
White Box hopes the report contributes practical international evidence to the national conversation about how more people facing barriers to work can access sustainable employment, and offers a useful reference point for what a more connected system can achieve here.