What We Do

 

 The Big Issue Australia is one of Australia’s leading social enterprises providing creative solutions to the issue of homelessness.

We achieve this by using different mechanisms to connect people with the community, such as The Big Issue Street Magazine Enterprise (a fortnightly independent current affairs magazine sold on the street by our authorised vendors), the Community Street Soccer Program (a national initiative using the positive power of sport to change lives), the Women’s Subscription Enterprise (provides employment and pathways opportunities for disadvantaged women through the sale of subscriptions to The Big Issue magazine) and The Big Issue Classroom (that challenges primary and secondary students to break down stereotypes surrounding homelessness and encourage tolerance and empathy towards all people). 

The Big Issue Street Magazine Enterprise

The Big Issue Street Magazine Enterprise is a unique business solution to a social problem; using the publishing model to produce a quality product, the sale of which  provides opportunities for homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people to make  positive changes in their lives.

Authorised vendors buy the magazine for $2.50 from The Big Issue and sell it on the streets for $5, keeping the difference.

Since its launch in 1996, The Big Issue vendors in Australia have sold over 6 million magazines, with more than $13.2 million going into the pockets of Australia’s homeless and disadvantaged.

 

The Community Street Soccer Program

 Street Soccer is a new approach to alleviate the plight of the disadvantaged and homeless.

The program uses physical activity, in the form of organised sport, as a catalyst for transforming the lives by reconnecting homeless with the community and providing them with a real sense of purpose and belonging. Most critically, it gives them a great boost in self-esteem and a vision for a brighter future.

The Street Soccer Program can be adapted to meet the challenges and needs of local communities throughout Australia, including Indigenous Australians and refugees. 

The Big Issue Classroom

 The Big Issue Classroom challenges primary and secondary students to break down stereotypes surrounding homelessness and encourage tolerance and empathy towards all people.

Students attend a one hour group session (either at The Big Issue Classroom’s Headquarters in Melbourne’s CBD or at their school) where group discussions, games and fun activities are used to explore homelessness in Australia, discrimination in our society and what it is to be marginalised.

Sessions are facilitated by a specialist presenter and students and teachers also have the opportunity to hear directly from someone who has experienced homelessness first-hand. They share their story, focussing on the challenges they’ve faced and what has helped them overcome those challenges. Feedback has shown that the guest speaker has a direct impact on a very personal level for students attending the sessions.

Overall, the session gives students a tangible experience and by encouraging them to think beyond the facts and figures, their understanding of homelessness and disadvantage is greatly improved.

Women’s Subscription Enterprise

The Women’s Subscription Enterprise is a new social enterprise of The Big Issue Australia that provides work, training and pathways opportunities to homeless and disadvantaged women.
 
Through the sale of subscriptions to The Big Issue magazine homeless and disadvantaged women are employed to work as Dispatch Assistants, sorting, collating and inserting magazines for distribution to subscribers every fortnight. As well as paid employment, the women will also receive ongoing training and pathways opportunities, and the chance to develop their skills in a safe, secure and rewarding environment.
 
Subscriptions are sold commercially, so there is no pressure on the women to make sales and all revenue is directed into the pockets of disadvantaged women, through the provision of wages, training, mentoring and support.

 
For every 100 subscriptions sold, the Enterprise can employ one woman. The more subscriptions sold, the more women can be employed.