A gateway for the social enterprise community

The Purpose Precinct at the iconic Queen Victoria Market puts social enterprises in front of nine million visitors a year. Launched in December 2022 by Good Cycles and STREAT, with support SENVIC, the Purpose Precinct has created opportunities to showcase how social enterprise is transforming business as usual in Victoria. 

In August 2023, the Minister for Employment Ben Carroll announced that the original Purpose Precinct site will be expanding to a larger permanent site for up to 100 social enterprises! The expanded precinct will see it move from its original site on QVM’s String Bean Alley to the F Shed Laneway, with construction on the new site completion due later this year.

As well as increasing exposure and sales for social enterprises from across Victoria, the Precinct will provide on and off-site employment and training pathways for 75 disadvantaged jobseekers facing multiple barriers to finding work, such as marginalised young people, Aboriginal Victorians, and people who are long-term unemployed.

The Precinct also has a strong focus on promoting the circular economy. Surplus food from QVM traders will be collected and turned it into products such as jams and preserves at an onsite kitchen. Social enterprises are businesses that trade to help tackle social problems and improve communities, while providing people with access to employment.

If you can’t make it down to the Queen Victoria Market, you can see some of the amazing social enterprise products online at www.purposeprecinct.org.

The Purpose Precinct are always looking for more products that demonstrate the breadth and depth of the social enterprise community. If you are interested in wholesaling your products at Queen Victoria Market, then expressions of interest are open now. 

You must be a SENVIC member to be considered, so if you haven’t already, then join us, it’s free!

Our community imagines the future

In December 2022, we held an open invitation workshop to discover the opportunities that the Purpose Precinct presents. 

Thank you to everyone who joined us to ideate together.

The workshop showed the creativity and vibrant vision SENVIC members have for the Purpose Precinct.

There were hundreds of ideas generated, with key themes of: 

• connecting with social enterprises near and far (across Victoria)
• supporting  through resources, mentoring and incubation to grow new and small businesses
• reducing our environmental impact and focusing on circularity
• creating community through storytelling, events and participation
• creating shared infrastructure (from online, to people and brick-and-mortar)
• creating opportunities for employment and job creation (in particular for vulnerable cohorts)
• becoming the best-practice case study for how social enterprises can work together to benefit the sector as a whole.

Future opportunties

With the support of the Victorian Government, the Purpose Precinct will take a quantum leap in 2023, moving to a larger space at Queen Victoria Market that will signal the arrival of social enterprise. 

At the new site, we aim to put the workshop’s vision into reality.

We will launch an EOI process shortly, including opportunities for shop-fronts and pop-ups.  

To keep up to date, join SENVIC’s mailing list and tick ‘Purpose Precinct updates’