The social enterprise sector is attracting policy and academic interest internationally for its promise to meet development challenges across social and economic domains. This article discusses findings from applied research in Tasmania, Australia, that aimed to understand whether social enterprises were present, what distinguished them as a sector, and the kinds of development roles they sought to play. Findings revealed that numerous Tasmanian organisations identified as social enterprises yet these organisations shared no common organisational structure, development mission or industry. Rather, what they shared was a common approach to addressing local development issues: one that involved crossing boundaries and working across sectoral silos to leverage resources and support.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Australia, fourth sector, local development, social enterprise
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Policy and administration
Research Field:	Economic development policy
Objective Division:	Economic Framework
Objective Group:	Management and productivity
Objective Field:	Management and productivity not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Eversole, R (Professor Robyn Eversole)
ID Code:	88117
Year Published:	2013
Deposited By:	Institute for Regional Development
Deposited On:	2014-01-13
Last Modified:	2014-05-12
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