Final update for 2025
Thanks for your support in 2025
As we close out 2025, I want to thank you – our partners, peers and supporters – for the role you continue to play in strengthening Australia’s impact investing ecosystem. This year reinforced both the scale of the opportunity ahead and the importance of sustained collaboration to ensure capital delivers measurable social and environmental outcomes.
Here are a few highlights that point to what’s next for IIA:
Benchmarking Impact Report
Last month, we released Benchmarking Impact: Australian Impact Investor Insights, Activity and Performance 2025, our most comprehensive market study in five years, produced in partnership with the UNSW Centre for Social Impact. The findings confirm the rapid growth of the market, with impact investing in Australia now exceeding $157 billion – nearly eight times its size in 2020. As we prepare the next report in 2026, this work will continue to shape our understanding of the market and guide our priorities.
Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI) Grants
The SEDI Grants program demonstrated the depth of demand for capacity-building support across the social enterprise sector. We awarded the final round of grants this month. Since the launch of SEDI, we’ve awarded approximately $6 million to 56 organisations nationwide, including 19 Indigenous organisations, from 940 expressions of interest and 424 applications. The scale of interest reinforces the importance of investment in enterprise readiness and growth, and we’re pleased the Government has extended SEDI with an additional $3.9 million in funding.
Impact Deal Tracker
We launched Australia’s most comprehensive online platform for verified impact investment deals and opportunities. The IIA Impact Deal Tracker already features 100+ impact deals and opportunities, with more than $6 billion in commitments added in recent months. Improving transparency and capital flow remains a key focus as the Tracker continues to grow into 2026.
Endowments for Impact Challenge (EFIC)
EFIC marked Australia’s first open tender connecting philanthropic trusts and foundations with specialist advisors to support mission-aligned investment strategies. Six leading foundations participated, representing a combined $170 million investment pool, with Australian Impact Investments and Koda announced as joint winners.
Global climate engagement
Through our COP30 Investor Roundtables in Sydney and Melbourne, co-hosted with the PRI and the University of Melbourne, we contributed to the global Roadmap for Private Capital Mobilisation presented at COP30 in Brazil last month. With Australia holding the COP presidency for negotiations in the lead-up to COP31 in Türkiye in November 2026, we look forward to continuing this work to ensure our region plays a central role in shaping climate finance outcomes.
Alongside this, we continued our partnership with GSG Impact; supported the Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific (mark 25–26 March 2026 in your diaries for the next Summit); delivered targeted webinars; and published our monthly stories in OnImpact, Australia’s leading impact investment newsletter – all focused on advancing practical, market-informed conversations.
Looking ahead
As we head towards 2026, the role of impact investing has never been more critical. Despite global uncertainty, constrained public funding and geopolitical tension, momentum behind mobilising capital for social and environmental good continues to build. There is significant work ahead – and significant opportunity – if we act together to mobilise capital where it matters most.
On behalf of the team and our Board, thank you for your continued engagement. We wish you a safe and restful end to the year and look forward to working with you in 2026.
Best wishes
David
David Hetherington
CEO, Impact Investing Australia