NSW gets a new Social Impact Investment Policy
13 July 2022 at 3:38 pm
The SII Policy 2.0 sets out a more holistic vision for impact investing in the state.
The Office of Social Impact Investment in NSW has launched a new iteration of its Social Impact Investment (SII) Policy with a promise to deliver more investments more simply, enhancing knowledge-sharing practices, and building a more diverse impact investment ecosystem.
It comes seven years after the NSW government launched its inaugural SII Policy in 2015 – becoming the first state in Australia to do so. The Office of Social Impact Investment (OSII) was established to implement it.
Since then it has resulted in nine investments which, to date, have directly supported around 9,000 people.
The aim of SII Policy 2.0 is to help OSII grow its impact, by embedding the principles of SII – innovation, prevention, partnerships, and an outcomes focus – at the heart of how NSW delivers social impact for its people.
Dr Aleksandra Simic, director of OSII, told Pro Bono News they were pleased to release the second SII Policy.
“Our aim is to drive better services, outcomes and value for the people of NSW through impact investing,” Simic said.
The policy is informed by three lessons that OSII say it has learned since launching:
- While individual investments have demonstrated the benefits of the SII model, they remain highly bespoke, and are not always suitable for programs at different stages of maturity.
- Capability within government and the sector has progressed but needs to grow further.
- There is untapped opportunity to grow impact beyond individual SII transactions.
Building on this, Simic said the policy set three “well defined and measurable actions” – streamlining approaches to social impact investments, enhancing sector capability, and building a broader and more diverse impact investment ecosystem.
“The $30 million Social Impact Outcomes Fund ensures we can progress on the actions over the next three years,” she said.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership and collaboration with the impact investing community.”
Work is already underway with the first SII opportunity under the Social Impact Outcomes Fund expected to be released through an open competitive tender in early August.
Read the latest SII Policy here.
