On 23 July 2015, Social Outcomes released the report, Shared Value in Australia. The report looks at how companies in Australia and globally, are seizing the opportunity of shared value creation – growing their businesses, markets, and revenue streams, through innovations that reduce social and environmental problems. Business is rapidly changing, fuelled by increased transparency, digital innovation, consumer engagement, finite resources and supply chains, and dynamic demographics and workforces. Traditional
23
Jun 2015
Impact measurement – its confusing…
By Sandy Blackburn-Wright, Managing Director, Social Outcomes We are told at every turn that we need to measure impact, whether we are a not-for-profit (NFP), philanthropic foundation, business, or government department, and it’s all very confusing. There are lots of measurement tools and approaches, and we’re not always sure whether we should use these, or build something ourselves, so we end up doing a bit of both. Here are a
In Australia, the combination of a long-standing commitment to the ‘Aussie fair go,’ along with an increasing strain on government resources, creates a fertile environment for various forms of blended social and financial value to thrive. A number of businesses, social sector organisations, private foundations, and government agencies across Australia, are spearheading innovative models that create social value for our communities, but are structured or funded in ways that we
By Anna Bowden, Social Outcomes It seems almost impossible to go a day in Australia without the topic of property coming up, and more specifically, the rapid rate at which housing prices are escalating. For low-income earners in Australia, access to housing is a serious concern. Across the country, the proportion of households spending more than half their incomes on rent rose from 20% in FY2007-08 to 25% in FY2009-10.
The first Financial System Inquiry (FSI) in over 16 years has called out impact investing as a valuable and needed mechanism to fund social service delivery in Australia. The FSI called impact investing an important tool in the Australian context, especially given reduced government capacity to fund social services. The Inquiry also noted that impact investing presented an opportunity for Australia to: Reduce costs, and improve the impact of social
The dust might have begun to settle after the G20 meeting in Brisbane, but we’re still buzzing about the possibilities of social innovation to help shape the kind of Australia, and world, we want to see. At its heart, the G20 meeting was about coordinating international policy to achieve greater economic growth and stability. The G20 Innovation Hub, hosted in the lead-up to the G20 Leaders Summit in November 2014,
The following article was published in Pro Bono Australia on November 19, 2014. Last weekend, the G20 brought together world leaders from government (the G20), business (the B20), and community (C20). The groups worked on broad goals ranging from increasing trade, to infrastructure development, and reducing corporate tax evasion. At the most basic level, the meetings were focused on expanding economic, political, and social progress. With this in mind, Social