Australia’s first charity leads development of social impact investment

Third Sector February 24, 2016

2 min read

Australia’s first charity, The Benevolent Society, has become the largest supporter of one of the country’s most innovative organisations focused on delivering greater positive outcomes for society through private capital: Impact Investing Australia.

The Benevolent Society has become the foundation partner for Impact Investing Australia, established in 2014 to grow the market for investments that seek to deliver measurable social and environmental impact, in addition to a financial return.

“Impact investing provides an enormous opportunity to transform the way we use capital and investment to enable more effective and innovative solutions to our social challenges. We are thrilled to have The Benevolent Society come on board as a foundation partner to help Australia realise these opportunities,” said Daniel Madhavan, CEO of Impact Investing Australia.

“The Benevolent Society has unparalleled standing and track record as a social sector leader enabling important and lasting change in our communities, including participating in two of Australia’s flagship impact investments: Goodstart Early Learning and one of the first two NSW social benefit bonds. Its support of Impact Investing Australia sends a powerful signal to the social sector, the investment community and governments about the importance of developing this emerging field,” said Madhavan.

“The Benevolent Society has been at the forefront of social innovation for over 200 years, driving many transformational initiatives and incubating institutions at the fore of social change,” said Joanne Toohey, CEO of The Benevolent Society.

Toohey said that the ability to bring about lasting, positive change for some of the most vulnerable people in Australia will be determined by the strength of partnerships and solid collaboration with organisations that share the same goals.

“We believe impact investing holds great potential for the social sector to help deliver a better and more inclusive society. Impact Investing Australia is already making great strides to developing the critical infrastructure needed for impact investing to thrive in Australia, and we are really pleased to be partnering them in this work” said Toohey.

For more information visit http://www.benevolent.org.au/.