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Recent Highlights
Daniel Petre talks about fostering a culture of giving among wealthy Australians, in September’s Yakety Yak
 In our monthly 'Yakety Yak' dinner and conversation series, Peter Thompson speaks to individuals who have shown exceptional leadership in the field of public and social innovation, corporate responsibility, social entrepreneurship or philanthropy.
Daniel Petre, social entrepreneur, philanthropist and businessman, talked about the influence of some key life events in his quest to achieve work-life balance, be a good father and give back to the community in which he made his wealth. In his trademark provocative style, Daniel challenged us to create more of a giving culture to encourage our wealthy to become more generous. He said wealthy Australians are ‘the most lacking in philanthropy ...in the world by an order of magnitude’, and suggested that changes to tax structures and increased social pressure are the best ways to raise levels of giving amongst our super-rich.
> Watch the video
October edition of Social Business on Sky News Business
 In our October program, some of the topics included the second phase of the 'Rate the Raters' report by SustainAbility, the launch of new social impact bonds to raise revenue to support social initiatives in the UK and a new community recycling network that aims to reduce waste, create jobs and build social inclusion.
John Elkington spoke about the future of corporate responsibility and sustainability, and Bruce Bonyhady discussed the need for a national disability insurance scheme. Julie White also spoke about the Macquarie Group Foundation.
> Read more and watch videos
Qantas Foundation Social Impact Lecture – John Elkington
 The Qantas Foundation and CSI presented the third annual Social Impact lecture with John Elkington, who coined the phrase ‘triple bottom line’. His latest book is 'The Power of Unreasonable People', on social and environmental entrepreneurs. At a spectacular dinner at the MCA in Sydney John spoke on the theme ‘Helping the Future Take Flight 2010-2020’. He outlined the challenges of the sustainability agenda and provided case studies of what companies are doing successfully (and not so successfully). Watch John’s interview on ‘Social Business’.
John also delivered his Qantas Social Impact lecture to a Melbourne breakfast audience and he delved more deeply into the issues in workshops conducted in Sydney and Melbourne. Our thanks go to the Qantas Foundation for a very successful visit.
Preparing for the next decade of Philanthropy
 Renowned international philanthropist and past senior vice-president of the Ford Foundation, Barry Gaberman discussed ‘Preparing for the next decade of philanthropy – what the past tells us the future holds’, at events hosted by Swinburne’s APCSIP and the Centre for Social Impact in Sydney and Melbourne.
Barry examined philanthropy at both the individual and organisational levels and outlined the origins of modern philanthropy and the shift away from ‘charity’ to the more strategic intent of philanthropy. He spoke about the growing visibility of ‘celebrity philanthropy’ and giving by the ‘mega-rich’ and, echoing Daniel Petre - noted that as a proportion of assets and income the ‘mega- rich’ give less than the general population.
> Read the article by Swinburne’s Mike Moran, titled ‘Philanthropy: ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ on Barry’s recent talk in Melbourne.
> Listen to Barry Gaberman's recent interview on ABC Radio National Late Night Live
When Goodwill Meets Change: Grappling with the Challenges of Not-for-profit Leadership
This article in Knowledge @ Australian School of Business argues that Third Sector leaders need to be more skilled than their counterparts in the public and private sectors because socially innovative organisations face greater complexity. A not-for-profit CEO is at risk of being crushed under the weight of goodwill as he or she drives an organisation's strategic direction and manages well-meaning expectations. In particular, successful Third Sector leaders must be exceptional communicators and highly disciplined in balancing an extraordinary diversity of stakeholder interests.
> Read full article
Launch of Social Procurement Guide for Vic Local Government
The eagerly awaited social procurement guide, 'Social Procurement: A Guide For Victorian Local Government', was launched on Oct 13 by Richard Wynne MP, Minister for Local Government, Housing and Aboriginal Affairs. The guide has been developed with the assistance of the Centre for Social Impact, and is for Victorian councils wanting to use their purchasing power to create positive social outcomes for their communities.
Social procurement involves using procurement processes and purchasing power to generate positive social outcomes in addition to the delivery of efficient goods, services and works. For local government, social procurement builds on initiatives already undertaken by the sector in enhancing sustainable and strategic procurement practice, enabling procurement to effectively contribute to building stronger communities and meeting the social objectives of councils.
Watch out for the overarching national paper 'Social Procurement in Australia', commissioned by CSI which will be available soon.
> Download Social Procurement Guide
Coming Up at CSI
Graduate Certificate in Social Impact – Enrol Now for 2011
 Enrolments are open for study of the Graduate Certificate in Social Impact in 2011. The program focuses on building the professional capacity of social managers and entrepreneurs of the future, across the corporate, government and third sectors. You can study in Sydney at the Australian School of Business at UNSW, in Melbourne through Melbourne Business School and Swinburne University of Technology, and in Perth at UWA Business School.
> Watch video of a student’s perspective
Scholarhips now open for Graduate Certificate in Social Impact
Scholarships to cover part of the tuition fees are available to those who have applied to enrol in the Graduate Certificate program. We thank our sponsors for their generosity in making these scholarships available.
> Download scholarship application form
Transparency Awards – Registrations close Fri 29 Oct
 The Centre for Social Impact has again joined with PwC and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia to launch the 2010 PwC Transparency Awards, which aim to improve transparency and quality of reporting in the not-for-profit sector.
These Awards give not-for-profit organisations a valuable opportunity to demonstrate that they take the issue of transparency and quality of reporting seriously. In 2010 the Awards have been expanded to include not-for-profits with >$5m in revenues (previously >$10m).
The positive influence of the Transparency Awards is going global. See World Vision’s great story
> Register now - last chance!
Free Public forum – ‘Civil Society in 2020: Vision, Strategy, Action’ – Nov 15, Sydney
 The 10th biennial Australia New Zealand Third Sector Research Conference will be held on Nov 15 - 16. The conference will commence with a free public forum on Nov 15 sponsored by CSI about the role and future of the third sector in Australia. Facilitated by broadcaster Julie McCrossin, the panellists comprise a diverse range of community leaders including:
David Thompson, CEO Jobs Australia; Alison Peters, Director, Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS); Dr Stephen Judd, CEO, Hammond Care and Director, Community Council Australia; and more. Join us for a lively interactive panel discussion at 9.30am at UTS.
This event is free but registration is essential.
> Read more and register now
Christian Bason Social Innovator Dialogues forums & masterclasses – Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
 Leading Danish thinker on public sector innovation, Christian Bason will present a range of master-classes and free public forums across Australia in November to lead a dialogue on the possibilities for co-creating an innovative public sector system, as part of the Social Innovator Dialogues Series. Christian believes the public sector needs to embrace a collaborative approach to providing social services, harnessing individuals, businesses and communities to co-create innovative ways to improve society.
The Social Innovator Dialogues Series is a collaboration between the Centre for Social Impact, Australian Social Innovation eXchange, and the Australian Centre for Social Innovation and aims to bring internationally renowned leaders in social innovation to Australia to encourage people to think differently about the big issues affecting our nation and communities.
> Visit www.sidialogues.org.au to find out more or to register for these workshops.
2010 Stegley Lecture: ‘Philanthropy, Advocacy & Public Policy Charity law Reform’ - Nov 10, Melb
On Wed Nov 10, Sustainability consultant Esther Abram will present the results of her research on the impact of charity law on philanthropic and community organisations, as part of the 2010 Stegley lecture. The lecture is held by CSI partner - the Swinburne Asia Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy. Registration is free, but bookings are essential.
> Read more or register now |
CSI is actively involved in a couple of conferences in the next month. This week we’re well-represented at the 2010 Volunteering Australia Conference. I’m joining Patrick McClure, Les Hems and Debbie Haski-Leventhal in speaking and presenting workshop sessions. All of us share a belief that volunteering is a key driver of the