Opportunity Pathways

Opportunity Pathways supports people receiving social housing assistance to access education, training and work.

A woman shaking hands at a job interview

About the program

Opportunity Pathways social impact investment (OP-SII) supports social housing tenants and their household members, Rent Choice recipients and applicants on the NSW Housing Register to gain and retain employment through access to tailored case management support, training, education and employment opportunities.

OP-SII transitioned to a social impact investment from an existing 3-year grant funded initiative under Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW.

The program was delivered in Hunter Central Coast, New England, South-western Sydney, and Western NSW.

Key features

Investment type: Payment-by-Result portfolio (4 service providers)

Contract length: 3 years (commenced July 2022)

Partners:

  • Service providers - BEST Employment (New England), Evolve Housing (South-western Sydney), Wesley Mission (Hunter Central Coast) and Housing Plus (Western NSW).
  • Government agency - Department of Communities and Justice and Commonwealth Department of Social Services.

Outcomes payment metrics:

  • Employment outcome - increase of 14 hours per week sustained over 13 and 26 weeks.
  • Education outcome - completion of Certificate III or above.

Where we are now

In June 2025, OP-SII completed its 3-year service delivery period. During this time, OP-SII supported 311 participants to achieve 26-weeks of sustained employment.

An evaluation of OP-SII is currently underway.

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