Social Return on Investment:  Lessons Learned in Australia

ORGANIZATION:
Social Ventures Australia Consulting

Year: 2012

This report was commissioned by the Investing in Impact Partnership (hereafter referred to as ‘the Partnership’) to assess the current state of play of SROI in Australia today. The partners are: the Centre for Social Impact (CSI); PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Foundation; and Social Ventures Australia (SVA). The main objectives of the Partnership were to increase the understanding of SROI as an impact measurement approach, improve the evidence base of impact for employment creating social enterprises, and improve the transparency of non-pro!t organisations reporting on their impact.

Since the commencement of the Partnership in 2009, severaldevelopments have occurred: interest in understanding SROI has grown to include a database of over 800 individuals receiving the SROI newsletter; there are discussions around establishing an Australian SROI Network; one or two day training courses have been delivered to about 390 people; 49 SROI analyses have been conducted by SVA; a national conference has been held (October 2011); and, contributions to dialogue at the global level about the further re!nement of SROI policy and practice have been made.

This report assesses the impact of these developments and advises on actions the Partnership can take to further the development and take-up of SROI in Australia.