NSW Announces $10M Impact Investment for Youth Unemployment
29 June 2016 at 8:28 am
The New South Wales Government has allocated $10 million in its 2016/17 budget for a social impact investment targeting areas of the state with high youth unemployment.
NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said using innovative methods to achieve better outcomes for young people struggling to find work was a priority.
“Social benefit bonds are an innovative way to bring together the resources and expertise of private investors, Not for Profit organisations and government to tackle important social issues,” Berejiklian said.
“Youth unemployment is an area in which the NSW Government believes social impact investment has the potential to achieve positive and measurable outcomes.”
The NSW Government’s Office of Social Impact Investment said it would hold a market sounding event to discuss the opportunities and gain insight into the sorts of projects that could be pursued.
The feedback received will then be used to help inform how government proceeds with the development of the investment.
Impact Investing Australia’s director of engagement and communications, Carly Hammond, told Pro Bono Australia News previous impact investments targeting youth unemployment had been successful.
“Addressing unemployment is an important leverage opportunity for impact investing given its correlation to other social issues such as homelessness and family violence,” Hammond said.
“In Melbourne, the social enterprise STREAT has been pioneering and successfully used impact investing as tool to scale the work it does providing disadvantaged youth with a supported pathway from the streets to a sustainable livelihood in the hospitality industry.”
The new fund follows an announcement in April that the state government would expand its social impact investment program, releasing its statement of opportunities to tackle key social challenges.
New South Wales was the first state to trial social impact bonds in 2013 – the Newpin bond and the Benevolent Society bond.
The Newpin bond successfully restored 66 children in out-of-home care to their families and supported another 35 families to prevent their children from entering care while delivering an 8.9 per cent return to investors in 2015.
The Benevolent Society bond results will be measured at the end of its five-year term.
