Australia’s First Charity Spearheads Impact Investment
24 February 2016 at 9:48 am
Australia’s first charity, The Benevolent Society, has thrown its support behind impact investing, partnering with one of the country’s leading organisations for achieving social outcomes through private capital.
The charity has become the Foundation Partner for Impact Investing Australia (IIA), to assist in growing the market for investments that seek to deliver measurable social and environmental impact, in addition to a financial return.
IIA CEO Daniel Madhavan said that The Benevolent Society’s experience with impact investment made the charity an ideal partner.
“Impact investing provides an enormous opportunity to transform the way we use capital and investment to enable more effective and innovative solutions to our social challenges,” Madhavan said.
“We are thrilled to have The Benevolent Society come on board as a Foundation Partner to help Australia realise these opportunities.
“The Benevolent Society has unparalleled standing and track record as a social sector leader enabling important and lasting change in our communities.”
The Benevolent Society manages one of Australia’s flagship impact investments, the $10 million Resilient Families social benefit bond in NSW.
Madhavan also said that the partnership would help to raise awareness about the potential of impact investing.
“Its support of Impact Investing Australia sends a powerful signal to the social sector, the investment community and governments about the importance of developing this emerging field” he said.
CEO of The Benevolent Society, Joanne Toohey, said that the organisation aimed to be a leader in innovation.
“The Benevolent Society has been at the forefront of social innovation for over 200 years, driving many transformational initiatives and incubating institutions at the fore of social change,” Toohey said.
“Our ability to bring about lasting, positive change for some of the most vulnerable people in Australia will be determined by the strength of our partnerships and solid collaboration with organisations that share the same goals.”
She said that impact investing holds “great potential for the social sector to help deliver a better and more inclusive society”.
“Impact Investing Australia is already making great strides to developing the critical infrastructure needed for impact investing to thrive in Australia, and we are really pleased to be partnering them in this work,” she said.
