Addressing key barriers to employment has been a central focus of PRF's work since its earliest days, recognising that employment is a significant lever for people to have economic dignity and social mobility. In 2024 PRF adopted a new strategy, focusing on changing the conditions to stop disadvantage in Australia with a greater systems thinking approach.
A review of our employment portfolio, undertaken prior to this shift, has provided a solid foundation for continued learning and funding strategies. We're pleased to share the key findings of this review in a summary report linked below, with a shorter 'snapshot' providing an overview.
The review aimed to understand the early performance of our investments, typically halfway through their grant terms, while also uncovering key insights into what is needed to help people experiencing disadvantage to secure meaningful employment. This included understanding to what extent our investments are contributing to supporting people into work, what we have learned about the effectiveness of the models we invested in, what it costs to deliver good quality outcomes, and the value of social enterprise compared with alternatives (mainstream employment and Workforce Australia providers).
We also reflected on the insights we’ve gained about what it takes to build sustainable and impactful enterprises, what we’ve learned about making mainstream employers more receptive and active in creating jobs for people excluded from the labour market, and what the challenges are for partners influencing the system/policy setting.
The review looks at $111 million of investments across 67 partnerships from 2020 to 2023 targeting the creation of 7200 jobs and offering a rich landscape of data and learning. The review draws from both primary and secondary data sources, including a mid-term assessment of outcomes and qualitative insights captured through reflective practices.
By mapping data to key review questions, we explored critical themes such as the effectiveness of different support models, the challenges and opportunities of social enterprises, and strategies for driving system-wide change. In parallel, we worked with Deloitte Access Economics to examine the costs, benefits, and funding flows of diverse employment support models, with key findings integrated throughout the summary report.
