Partnership Brokers National Network

Understanding the impact of the Partnership Brokers National Network

The Partnership Brokers National Network (PBNN), funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), engaged SVA Consulting to evaluate the School Business Community Partnership Brokers program (Partnership Brokers program).

The program supports partnerships between schools, businesses, community organisations and other stakeholders to improve education and transition outcomes for young people. It involves a network of 100+ Partnership Brokers which support around 1,600 partnerships and more than 5,000 partner organisations Australia-wide.

The PBNN wanted a detailed understanding of the program’s impact both in terms of the type and also the scale of change being created for stakeholders. And importantly, it wanted to build its understanding for both individual partnerships and the program overall.

“When I met with Simon and Olivia from SVA Consulting about enumerating the value of our work, it was refreshing to meet people that were able to understand the complexities of our program. It was also immediately apparent that the team would be able to handle the complex task of measuring the change that came through our work.”

Craig Dadds, Executive Officer, Partnership Brokers National Network

The evaluation included five standalone Social Return on Investment (SROI) analyses for Partnership Broker organisations working across NSW and Queensland. Across these five analyses, SVA Consulting surveyed and interviewed more than 300 stakeholders including representatives of local businesses, schools, community organisations, education institutions and parents.

High level of partnership activity

The analyses were able to confirm that the program was creating value for stakeholders participating in partnerships. This was underpinned by a high level of partnership activity, comprising a high number of partnerships and partners.

Importantly, the evaluation provided an important part of the evidence base that informed the government’s decision to extend the program.

Download the Partnership Brokers National Network case study (PDF, 397KB)