Projects & Publications
We dive deep and get to the heart of Australia's biggest social issues through our academic and applied research. Take a look below for a sample of our research projects.
Pulse of the For-Purpose Sector
> Download our latest Pulse (Wave 2) findings Australia has never kept track of its for-purpose sector on a national level, over time, and we want to understand the stressors, ...
Social security and stigma in Australia
Authors: Aurora Elmes, Jeremiah Brown, Gemma Carey and Batool Moussa The Centre for Social Impact conducted an analysis on how Australia’s social security system supports people who are unable to ...
Australia’s social venture ecosystem
In late 2020, the Paul Ramsay Foundation commissioned the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne to undertake research into Australia’s social venture ecosystem. The project has two broad aims: To develop ...
Building Back Better: Deep Dives
The Centre for Social Impact’s Building Back Better project, running in parallel with our Pulse of the For-Purpose Sector research program (launched in May 2020), provides a tailored series of ...
Zero Project: Housing First Coordination for WA
The Centre for Social Impact UWA is a key research partner on the Zero Project (previously known as the 50 Lives 50 Homes project). Led by Ruah Community Services, the ...
Amplify Insights: Education Inequity
Evidence shows there are specific, often overlapping, demographic groups who consistently bear the brunt of education inequity, perpetuated by interconnected and often discriminatory social forces, such as race, class, and ...
Roadmap to social impact: Your step-by-step guide to planning, measuring and communicating social impact
Authors: Ioana Ramia, Abigail Powell, Katrina Stratton, Claire Stokes, Ariella Meltzer and Kristy Muir Roadmap to social impact: Your step-by-step guide to planning, measuring and communicating social impact has been ...
Administering inequality? The National Disability Insurance Scheme and administrative burdens on individuals
Administering inequality? The National Disability Insurance Scheme and administrative burdens on individuals was produced by the Centre for Social Impact, using a systematic review of the available literature to examine the use ...
100 Families WA
Latest 100 Familes WA reports (6 August, 2021): > Full report: Insights into hardship and disadvantage in Perth, WA> Summary report: Insights into hardship and disadvantage in Perth, WA 100 ...
More than temporary? An evaluation of the accommodation of people sleeping rough in inner city Sydney during COVID-19
A new research report evaluates the NSW Government’s provision of temporary accommodation to people sleeping rough in the inner city of Sydney during the initial wave of the pandemic in ...
Ending Homelessness in Western Australia
The Centre for Social Impact UWA (CSI UWA) is a founding member of the Western Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (WAAEH). The WAAEH is comprised of a group of individuals ...
Amplify Insights: Financial Wellbeing
Amplify Insights: Financial Wellbeing is a call for coordinated action to address the individual (micro), organisational (meso), and societal (macro)-level factors in Australia that have created and continue to create ...
Research Roundtable on Social and Indigenous Preferential Procurement
Researchers from Swinburne, University of Technology Sydney, and the University of Melbourne came together with leaders from policy and practice on 25 June 2021 to share insights about current research ...
Social Housing in New South Wales
The Centre for Social Impact UNSW (CSI UNSW) partnered with the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW to examine the commitments of the New South Wales Government since 2016 to ...
The State of Social Procurement in Australia and New Zealand 2021
Authors: Jo Barraket, Kiros Hiruy, Jarrod Walshe and Batool Moussa Commissioned by IPA Personnel Services, in partnership with The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, Social Traders, and Ākina, and ...
Zonta House Impact Report
Authors: Leanne Lester, Ami Seivwright, Paul Flatau, Emma Crane and Kiara Minto. The Centre for Social Impact UWA (CSI UWA) has released its research report for Perth-based Zonta House Refuge ...
Partners in Recovery research series
As the charity sector seeks to transform in response to COVID-19, the Centre for Social Impact and Social Ventures Australia are undertaking the Partners in Recovery research series to support ...
Local Government Professionals WA Evaluation Framework and Toolkit
Community Development Officers working in local government are interested in making a difference in their communities however they often lack the tools and resources to know and document the difference ...
Moving the Conversation Forward: Calling for change in the community services sector
A partnership between the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) UNSW and the Community Services Industry Alliance (CSIA) has examined a decade of reforms for the community services sector, scrutinising over ...
Evaluation: your job your way
Authors: Ioana Ramia, Ariella Meltzer, Jennifer Moffatt, Abigail Powell and Emma Barnes The Centre for Social Impact UNSW has partnered with yourtown to evaluate the pilot program your job your ...
Increasing and improving community mental health supports in Western Australia
Community mental health supports can change an individual’s life trajectory by enabling them to better understand and manage their own personal recovery, and supporting them to live well in the ...
Improving health equity of young people? The role of social-enterprise
This Australian Research Council Linkage project, in partnership with Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), Social Traders, and the Foundation for Young Australians, investigates how social enterprises affect the social determinants ...
Journey to Social Inclusion evaluation
Sacred Heart Mission's Journey to Social Inclusion (J2SI) is a rapid housing approach coupled with three years of intensive support that wraps services around each person. With a strengths-based lens, ...
Information Sharing as Market Stewardship in the NDIS
Market stewardship of the NDIS has been raised as a major concern by multiple levels of government, as well as in key reviews conducted of the scheme by bodies such ...
How is the disability sector faring? 2020 Report
Prepared by the Centre for Social Impact, UNSW SydneyCarey, G., Weier, M., Malbon, E., Dickinson, H., & Duff, G. The National Disability Services’ (NDS) Annual Market Survey has become one ...
How is the disability sector faring? 2019 Report
Prepared by the Centre for Social Impact, UNSW SydneyCarey, G., Weier, M., Malbon, E., Dickinson, H., Alexander, D., & Duff, G. A report from the National Disability Services' Annual Market ...
Australian NFP Workforce Study
Everyone in Australia benefits from the great work of the Not-for-Profit (NFP) organisations that address social disadvantage, education, well-being, community, sports, biodiversity, artistic creation, cultural heritage, and more. Meanwhile, public ...
Market Capacity Framework: An approach for identifying thin markets in the NDIS
Citation: Reeders, D., Carey, G., Malbon, E., Dickinson, H, Gilchrist, D., Duff G., Chand., S., Kavanagh, A. & Alexander, D. (2019). Market Capacity Framework. Centre for Social Impact: Sydney. Research ...
The Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP)
The Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) program, led by Good Shepherd Microfinance on behalf of the Australian Government in partnership with CSI and EY, aims to increase financial inclusion and ...
Vanguard Laundry Evaluation
Providing employment and tailored career support can improve the health, wellbeing and finances of people living with mental illness, according to a new evaluation report from CSI Swinburne and Vanguard ...
Indigenous Financial Resilience
Authors: Megan Weier, Kylie Dolan, Abigail Powell, Kristy Muir and Amanda Young This report builds on previous work on financial resilience in Australia and represents the beginning of an exploration ...
Outcomes Measurement in the Australian Community Sector 2019
This is the tenth publication from the Bankwest Foundation Social Impact Series, and the sixth report in the Measuring Outcomes for Impact in the Western Australia Community Sector research program. ...
NSW Financial State Election Platform 2019
The NSW Financial Inclusion Network is pleased to release its State Election Platform 2019 This New South Wales election provides a real opportunity to address the state’s extraordinary levels of ...
Financial Resilience in Australia 2018
This report presents a headline measure of financial resilience in Australia in 2018, including a state comparison, and the population’s level of resources across all four components of financial resilience: ...
Building Connections for Enterprising Women
The Centre for Social Impact Swinburne undertook the project “Building Connections for Enterprising Women” with Good Shepherd Microfinance and colleagues at Swinburne Sarawak (Malaysia). Funded by the Australian Government through ...
Amplify Insights: Housing Affordability and Homelessness
Amplify Insights: Housing Affordability and Homelessness report examines the state of homelessness in Australia. Housing is a human right. It is fundamental to people’s current lives and their futures. Where ...
Market Stewardship Actions for the NDIS: new report
In response to growing concerns over the development of markets within the NDIS, key bodies such as the Productivity Commission and the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance ...
Inquiry into social impact investment for housing and homelessness outcomes
The Inquiry aims to understand the opportunity, capacity and ability of social impact investment to address the complex social problem of how to improve housing and hopelessness outcomes in Australia. ...
Competition and collaboration between service providers in the NDIS
Authors: Celia Green, Eleanor Malbon, Gemma Carey, Helen Dickinson and Daniel Reeders In recent decades governments in industrialised nations worldwide have been embracing market-based models for health and social care ...
Homelessness in Western Australia
This report presents an overview of homelessness in Western Australia: its nature, composition, antecedents and consequences, and the policy and practice responses that we believe should be considered address it. ...
The State of Homelessness in Australia's Cities
Authors: Paul Flatau, Katie Tyson, Zoe Callis, Ami Seivwright, Emily Box, Lobna Rouhani, Sze-Wan Ng, Noah Lester, Daniel Firth Since 2010, Australian homelessness services, largely operating in the inner city ...
Ganging Up on the Problem: A collaborative approach to improving the lives of veterans
By Andrew Hocking The Australian veteran support system is not broken, but like most growing systems, it is at a natural growth point where an opportunity exists to further mature ...
Promoting Work-Life Balance: Do Flexible Work Arrangements Really Work for Employees in Australia?
One-third of Australian employees have an agreement to work flexible hours, yet there is little evidence about whether flexible work arrangements in the workplace really promote work-life balance. This research ...
Assessing the Impact of Opportunity Child in Mt Druitt
CSI will provide leadership and support for the development and implementation of a research framework to measure the progress, effort and outcomes of the collective impact initiative known as The ...
Developing Shared Outcomes for The Housing and Homelessness Sectors project
The Centre for Social Impact in collaboration with Homelessness NSW is leading a project to support Specialist Homelessness Services, Community housing providers and others, to identify and select appropriate outcome ...
Resilient Families, Strong Communities Mapping service expenditure and outcomes in the Pilbara and the Kimberley
Economic, social and cultural conditions in even relatively geographically close areas can differ greatly. National reports on Indigenous disadvantage compare Indigenous outcomes with non-Indigenous outcomes at the national or state ...
Exploring Financial Wellbeing in the Australian Context
Money matters. It can determine how we live, how stressed we feel and what options are available to us, now and in the future. The ability to manage money and ...
Financial Resilience in Australia 2016
The lucky country is feeling the pinch. One in eight adults in Australia (12.6 per cent) experienced severe or high financial stress during the past year, up from 11.1 per ...
Digital Inclusion Index 2017
Online participation is increasing across Australia, however gaps continue to exist between those who are digitally included and excluded, linked closely to social exclusion and disadvantage. The latest release of ...
Bankwest Foundation Social Impact Series 8: Outcomes Measurement in the Community Sector
This is the eighth publication from the Bankwest Foundation Social Impact Series, and the fifth report in the Measuring Outcomes for Impact in the Western Australia Community Sector research program. ...
Bankwest Social Impact Series 7: A year in the life of WA's social enterprises
The Bankwest Foundation has partnered with the University of Western Australia Centre for Social Impact (UWA CSI) to undertake a research program Supporting Development and Growth in the Community Sector ...
Philanthropy and Philanthropists - Giving Australia
This report on philanthropy and philanthropists was prepared by the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne (CSI Swinburne) in collaboration with The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS), Queensland ...
Australia's Social Pulse
Australia’s social purpose sector lacks a cohesive, consistent and reliable source that tracks our social progress. Without this, we cannot determine whether the sector is succeeding in its goal to ...
Social Enterprise Development and Investment Funds Evaluation (SEDIF)
The evaluation has found that SEDIF has been a program innovation, mobilising more than 124% of its original public investment in private finance to support public policy objectives. Available data ...
Bankwest Social Impact Series 6 - The future of outcomes measurement in the community sector in Western Australia
This is the sixth publication from the Bankwest Foundation Social Impact Series, and the fourth report in the research stream of Measuring Outcomes for Impact in the Western Australia Community ...
Financial Resilience in Australia 2015
Financial exclusion has not shifted over the last 8 years in Australia. One in six people remain severely or fully financially excluded. This group continues to experience disadvantage across multiple ...
Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2016
The internet has transformed almost every aspect of our lives. But for the 3 million Australians who are still not online, the education, health, social and financial benefits of being ...
What are the health, social and economic benefits of providing public housing and support to formerly homeless people?
Our study examines five NPAH programs in Western Australia which support homeless people to access and sustain public housing allocations. In the standard case, without programs such as these, homeless ...
Bankwest Foundation Social Impact Series 5 - The practice, prevalence and funding of outcomes measurement in the community sector
This is the fifth publication from the Bankwest Foundation Social Impact Series, and the third report in the research stream of Measuring Outcomes for Impact in the Western Australia Community ...
Finding Australia's Social Enterprise Sector: Final Report 2016
The FASES 2016 research project is a joint initiative of Social Traders and CSI Swinburne. Building on FASES 2010, the new report focuses on understanding challenges and opportunities experienced by ...
Analysis of Annual Information Statement Data - The Australian Charities Report
Go to the website: australiancharities.acnc.gov.au Each year charities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) need to lodge an Annual Information Statement (AIS) with the ACNC. This project ...
Australia's Social Purpose Market: Understanding funding flows and exploring implications
This analysis was undertaken by PwC, as part of its partnership with the Centre for Social Impact, to estimate the scale in financial terms of the market involved in delivering ...
Cost of Youth Homelessness in Australia - Final Report
Homelessness is the ultimate experience of disadvantage and social exclusion. In 2011, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that there were 44,000 young Australians under the age of 25 who ...
The Financial Economy and Indigenous Young People In Australia
This report, funded by the First Nations Foundation, aims to better understand how Indigenous young people navigate the financial economy. It looks at the relationship between the Indigenous and mainstream ...
Building gender equity and diversity in the Australian Construction Industry
Gender equity and diversity among construction sector professionals is a persistent problem which exacerbates skills shortages, reduces economic productivity and constrains innovative capacity. There is little understanding of why formal ...
Developing a Prototype for a Shared Outcomes Databank for Australia
Are we making progress? Developing a prototype for a shared outcomes databank for Australia - aims to design and develop a prototype for a shared outcomes measurement. The databank will ...
Gender Equality in Male Dominated Industries: Evidence from the 2014 Australian Workplace Relations Study
This project examines gender equality in male dominated industries using data from the 2014 Australian Workplace Relation Study (AWRS). It investigates direct measures of gender equality, such as gender pay ...
Striving for a Better Future for our Kids and Knowing Whether We're Achieving It: Establishing the foundations for a shared outcomes framework for 0-8 year olds.
This project is part of the Opportunity Child initiative. It will provide a critical foundation for a shared outcomes framework for early childhood. It aims to identify key outcome areas ...
Bankwest Social Impact Series 2 - Resourcing Social Enterprises: Approaches and challenges
The Bankwest Foundation has partnered with the University of Western Australia Centre for Social Impact (UWA CSI) to undertake a research program Supporting Development and Growth in the Community Sector ...
A shared outcomes measurement blueprint for Australia
Australia spends over $420bn a year across health, social services, education and a wide variety of other social issue domains. The total cost accounts for around 30% of GDP and ...
Finding Australia's Social Enterprise Sector 2015 - Interim Report
Finding Australia’s Social Enterprise Sector 2015, supported by Social Traders and led by Professor Barraket (now at the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University) have completed the first stage ...
Couchsurfing Students: The Yarra Ranges Youth Homelessness Prevention Project
The Couch Surfing Secondary Students (CSSS): Yarra Ranges Youth Homelessness Prevention Project has developed out of a research partnership between Anchor Youth Services, the Outer Eastern Local Learning and Employment ...
Bankwest Foundation Social Impact Series 1 - Measuring Outcomes for Impact in the Community Sector in Western Australia
The Bankwest Foundation and the University of Western Australia Centre for Social Impact (UWA CSI) have partnered to produce a long-term series of research projects that will transform the way ...
Eight Years on the Fringe: What has it meant to be severely or fully financially excluded in Australia?
This report presents the story of the severely or fully financially excluded across Australia over the 2006 - 2013 period. Between 2006 and 2013, almost one in six people in ...
The Cost of Youth Homelessness in Australia - Snapshot 1
A new report and the first national study of its kind, The Cost of Youth Homelessness in Australia, has revealed the extreme difficulties faced by homeless young people. Conducted to ...
We can't afford not to: supporting young people within their families and communities from early adolescence to early adulthood
One in five young people are disengaged from full-time school or work. They are at risk of social isolation, community disconnection and mental health problems. We know the problem, but ...
Intellectual Disability and Complex Intersections: Marginalisation under the National Disability Insurance Scheme
This paper questions whether Australia's new disability support regime, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), can meet its aims for people with disabilities who also experience complex social disadvantage, using ...
Measuring Financial Exclusion in Australia 2013
Authored by Chris Connolly In May 2011 the Centre for Social Impact published its first measurement of financial exclusion in Australia. The research – commissioned by NAB - is repeated ...
Social Impact Bonds: An Australian Snapshot
Authored by Emma Tomkinson This paper captures insights from the presenters at the Centre for Social Impact’s inaugural Social Finance Forum, which focused on Social Impact Bonds. It presents the ...
Measuring Financial Exclusion in Australia
Authored by Chris Connolly In May 2011 the Centre for Social Impact published its first measurement of financial exclusion in Australia. The research – commissioned by NAB - is repeated ...
Report on the NSW Social Impact Bond Pilot
Authored by Peter Shergold, Cheryl Kernot, Les Hems, in partnership with Corrs Chambers Westgarth, JBWere, Macquarie Group, The Young Foundation Traditional ways of funding not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) to deliver programs ...
Social Procurement in Australia
How organisations spend their money, who they purchase from, and what they purchase, can have profound social impacts. Companies whose suppliers have poor labour standards, or organisations whose purchases result ...
Intersecting Transformations: Business and the Third Sector
Featuring papers by Peter Shergold, Helmut Anheier, David Vogel, Sandra Waddock, David Grayson, Marthe Nyssens The conference proceedings for the 2010 CSI International Research Conference, titled 'Intersecting Transformations: Business and ...
Managing in a downturn: Impact of economic downturn in NfP organisations
Managing in a Downturn was the first comprehensive research project to assess the effect of the economic downturn on Australian charities and nonprofit organisations. It assessed the projected increases and ...
The Common Cause Report into Sydney's Key Social Issues
The Common Cause project aimed to help create a more inclusive community and address issues of social disadvantage by making freely available an improved information framework to all interested parties who ...
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