Social Ventures Australia (SVA) has welcomed the Commonwealth Government’s budget announcement of a new $96 million Try, Test and Learn Fund, saying it’s an important step towards promoting a more innovative, agile and impactful social services system.
The Fund will allow new social initiatives to be tested, measured against agreed outcomes and expanded where they are successful or wound down if they’re not.
SVA’s CEO Rob Koczkar commented:
‘The fund provides an exciting opportunity to use the insights from the actuarial analysis of income support liabilities that the Government has conducted. It will help inform a better understanding of the link between government spending and specific social outcomes, and how much Government could save through investing in effective programs.
‘The fund could unlock opportunities for the development of innovative service and finance models and attract co-investment from the private sector in important social initiatives.’
‘Private capital is never going to replace the need for ongoing investment by government in critical services, but there is scope for it to have significant impact in areas including affordable housing supply, social impact bonds (SIBs) and social enterprise development.’
‘The great strength of the SIB model is that it requires governments, community services organisations and investors to examine the data about what really works to improve the lives of people in need, to accurately cost the service and the savings it generates to government.’
The Fund is accompanied by two pilot programs – one to improve parenting skills for vulnerable families where parents have mental health issues or are in jail and support them in the first 1000 days of their child’s life. The second pilot will support young people exiting out of home care and provide them with targeted support and priority access to education, housing, employment services, legal services and health assessments.
‘These are the kind of programs which have the potential to have a significant social impact, by changing the life trajectory of people experiencing disadvantage and reducing the cost of welfare over time.’
‘SVA believes tonight’s announcements should be part of a broader strategy for social innovation. While we’ve seen a number of promising developments, we’re yet to see these pulled into a comprehensive strategy that will fully leverage the investment the Government has made to date.’
‘A comprehensive social innovation strategy would help galvanise action and collaboration across each of the sectors of our economy with a stake in our collective prosperity and wellbeing.’
Youth Employment
SVA also welcomed the Government’s $751.7 million investment in a new Youth PaTH program to support job seekers under 25 and help them transition into work. The new program provides pre-employment training and additional $200 income bonus if they participate in an internship, which is combined with $1000 upfront employer incentives.
Employers who take on young people with barriers to employment will also be eligible for a $10,000 wage subsidy.
‘To be a truly inclusive society, people who are marginalised – whether through a disability, a mental illness, or having been out of work for many years – must have opportunities to participate.’
‘It’s great to see a recognition that support for both employers and job seekers is important for young people in their transition to work. In our own experience with demand-led programs like the Industry Employment Initiative we’ve seen the positive impact this approach has for marginalised groups.
‘We need better ways to ensure disadvantaged jobseekers can access the training they need to move into the jobs that employers are trying to fill, and for employers to be willing to invest in a diverse workforce through actively creating pathways for disadvantaged applicants. Demand-led initiatives have shown great promise to this end and we hope to see learnings from successful pilot programs taken into account as the design of the PaTH program progresses.
‘We’d also like to see a focus on social procurement in order to turbo charge opportunities for young people to move into the workforce. Harnessing social procurement opportunities across government and big business will significantly increase demand for social enterprises and social entrepreneurs – who in turn will employ job seekers requiring additional support in the labour market.’
Evidence in Education
SVA welcomes the additional funding for schools and the commitment to needs based funding, while noting that the level of additional funding was less than outlined in the original Gonski report.
“When the Commonwealth and States sit down to nut out the detail, we hope they focus on how to make sure those funds flow towards evidence based practice so that every dollar can have the biggest learning impact for every child. The work that the Productivity Commission has been tasked with in this area is a promising step towards this.
‘We believe every child should benefit from 13 years of educational progress from their 13 years at school, irrespective of their starting point.’
‘For this to become a reality, Australia needs to invest in building the education evidence base; developing new programs for schools, testing them to determine what’s effective, sharing that knowledge with teachers and then supporting them to make evidence informed decisions.’
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‘SVA looks forward to continuing to work with government, and with partners across sectors, to maximise the social impact that can be achieved through the initiatives in this Budget.’
Media Contact
Sofie Desmet
T 0410 741 173
E sdesmet@socialventures.com.au