About the program
The Youth Employment Social Impact Program (YESIP) was established as a stimulus measure to support youth employment through social enterprises and social impact organisations. The program was for young people (aged 16 to 24) not in employment, education or training and experiencing significant disadvantage.
YESIP was an opportunity to test and learn from a new approach to social impact investment - a portfolio approach. The approach involved allocating funding across three smaller scale programs to enable comparison of outcome and effectiveness between different programs and business models.
YESIP was delivered by:
- BackTrack Works, a social enterprise that helped young people in Armidale and Tenterfield to build practical experience and life skills through accredited training, traineeships and employment opportunities.
- Whitelion Youth Agency (now Kids First Australia), which supported at-risk youth in Western Sydney with a one-stop approach to case management, training and job readiness.
- Yourtown, which led a 5-week pre-employment program for young people at risk of long-term unemployment in Western Sydney, prepared participants for paid traineeships with yourtown’s social enterprises and partners in construction and related industries.
Where are we now?
In 2023, YESIP completed its 2-year service delivery period. The program supported 141 participants over this period, of which 60 participants sustained employment over 26-weeks.
BackTrack Works demonstrated consistent performance and innovation and was re-contracted for an additional 2.5 years.
Key learnings
A portfolio approach requires balancing standardised outcome measures with flexibility to accommodate different delivery models and contexts.
YESIP tested a different approach to social impact investment by funding three smaller scale programs that aimed to achieve the same outcome – sustained employment. The three providers had the same outcome payment metrics, however each service provider was encouraged to propose milestones most suited to their program and the beneficiary group they were supporting (for example, completion of accredited training, traineeship progression and/or specific vocational qualifications). This flexibility in setting milestone payment metrics recognised the various pathways to achieving employment outcomes and enabled deeper insights into what works across different service models and contexts.
Delivering programs across metropolitan and regional areas also highlighted the importance of tailoring services to local needs and opportunities. YESIP providers delivered place-based models that addressed the unique challenges and opportunities within their communities. For example, Whitelion supported at-risk youth in Western Sydney to complete Certificate III in Hospitality alongside work experience at Whitelion’s social enterprise café or local job placements. Backtrack Works focused on supporting young people in regional areas by building practical experience and skills through projects related to agriculture, construction and maintenance. All providers offered wraparound support in addition to supporting employment pathways.
While service providers delivered positive employment outcomes overall, they faced challenges in meeting jointly agreed enrolment and outcome targets, with some of the challenges stemming from COVID-19 impacts. The Payment-by-Results approach enabled service providers and government to identify these challenges early and respond with innovative approaches. For example, yourtown shortened its pre-employment training and offered paid casual employment within their social enterprise to incentivise participation, while Whitelion partnered with a different registered training organisation that offered a more flexible and trauma-informed training model, better suited to their participants.