Conferences, The Third Sector as Civil Society in Australasia: Identity, Role and Influence in the New Century

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Conduits for capital: a typology of specialist intermediaries in the Australian social economy
Michael James Moran

Last modified: 2010-06-01

Abstract


Lyons et al (2007) have identified a number of impediments to accessing capital in the Australian third sector. While they are quick to dismiss suggestion of a ‘capital crisis’, they note a range of ‘barriers’ that have stymied sectoral development and restricted the ability of the sector to be a major ‘source of social innovation’ as both large service providing nonprofits can struggle to garner resources required for expansion and start-up social enterprises are deprived of seed finance for growth. To resolve these issues commentators and more recently the Federal Government are vesting faith in the development of a specialist intermediary infrastructure which in some respects mirrors that which has developed in United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. These institutions aim to facilitate the efficient flow of resources from the supply-side to the demand-side by acting as information clearinghouses, while in equal measure, providing management advice, with the aim of diffusing private sector approaches to organisational development to the third sector. This exploratory paper, which employs a qualitative method, has two aims. The first is to provide a rudimentary mapping of Australia’s nascent intermediary infrastructure. The second is to formulate an organisational typology of Australian intermediaries that is cognisant of Australia’s regulatory, legislative and policy environment; the specifics of its third sector financing and funding arrangements; philanthropic traditions, and wider political culture. In doing so it argues that while these are perhaps the most promising actors to emerge with respect to capital availability a number of important questions remain with regards to their potential effectiveness, scalability and broader impact on third sector identity.