NSW Releases New Social Benefits Bond Opportunities
20 April 2016 at 10:22 am
The New South Wales Government is expanding its social impact investment program – releasing its statement of opportunities to tackle key social challenges – after the success of its two trial initiatives.
The NSW Treasury said social impact investment provided the government with opportunities to deliver better outcomes for the community while opening up new sources of funding and encouraging collaboration between government, the community sector and private investors.
As a result the government has released its 2016 statement of opportunities, which outlined priority policy areas for social impact investment.
The three key policy areas are around establishing an Aboriginal Centre for Excellence in Western Sydney, increasing access to early childhood education and increasing permanency for children in out-of-home care, particularly through open adoption.
NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said the government was keen to build on the momentum it had created through its first two social benefit bonds.
“NSW created Australia’s first social benefit bonds in 2013 – the Newpin bond and the Benevolent Society bond. Both bonds support vulnerable families by successfully reuniting them and supporting them to stay together,” Berejiklian said.
“In its first two years, the Newpin bond has successfully restored 66 children in out-of-home care to their families and supported another 35 families to prevent their children from entering care. The Newpin bond has also delivered an 8.9 per cent return to investors in 2015.
“The second bond, The Benevolent Society bond, is well underway and its results will be measured at the end of its five-year term.”
The treasurer said a series of market-sounding events would be held in the coming months for interested parties to get more information on the government’s priority policy areas outlined in the statement.
“Feedback from these market soundings will inform how government proceeds with formal requests for social impact investment proposals that will be announced later this year,” she said.
