Side by Side SIB

The Side by Side Social Impact Bond (Side by Side SIB) addresses educational outcomes for primary school children.

The Side by Side SIB offers Investors the opportunity to earn a competitive, risk adjusted financial return while improving the lives of vulnerable students in Victoria.

The Side by Side SIB will fund the working capital of the Side by Side Program, an intensive 12-month program designed to improve the engagement and learning outcomes of students in Years 1 to 4. The Program combines student and family therapeutic support in the home, educational case management at school and professional learning and mentoring for teachers delivered through a whole-of-school transformation process.

The Side by Side program will be delivered by Berry Street, a not-for-profit organisation focussed on delivering out-of-home care, case management and family services in Victoria. The program will place focus on working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Berry Street will subcontract the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency to provide culturally specific awareness and capacity building training for school staff and individual educational and therapeutic support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families.

The program will be rolled out in nine schools across three geographic clusters in Victoria. It is expected that approximately 300 students will be enrolled in the Side by Side Program over five years.

The Side by Side SIB is expected to reduce the number of days that students are absent from school, improve student learning outcomes and ultimately reduce school drop-out rates resulting in reduced reliance on welfare, greater lifetime earnings and a reduction in the utilisation of State services. The savings accruing to the Victorian Government will be shared with Berry Street to fund the delivery of the Side by Side Program, and with Investors to provide a financial return on their investment.

The Side by Side SIB structure

Key features

• Investor returns are linked to the success of the Side by Side Program in reducing the number of days students are absent from school relative to a fixed baseline
• 6.25 year bond term (dependent upon Financial Close)
• Target performance scenario return of 6.0% p.a. (note that this is an objective only)
• Fixed coupons of 1.5% p.a. for first 5.25 years
• Performance coupon in final year dependent upon program outcomes
• 70% capital protection in underperform scenarios

Invest

Please note that the Side by Side SIB is now closed for investment. For further details, please refer to the following documents:

• Side by Side SIB Information Memorandum (PDF, 12MB)
• Side by Side SIB – Deed Poll & Purchase Deed (PDF, 1.47MB)

Further Investor information can be found on this page.