When it comes to complex social and environmental challenges and programs, and investment to fund them, the social services sector increasingly needs to be able to demonstrate what outcomes are being achieved and what it costs to deliver better solutions.

Against a backdrop of many organisations struggling to define those outcomes, and even fewer knowing if they are successful, a new guide has been launched to help them better uncover and understand the true costs of social services and, ultimately, deliver superior outcomes for people and communities.

A practical guide to understanding social costs: Developing the evidence base for informed social impact investment shares practical tools for organisations to work through what can often be a daunting task of calculating the cost of particular social issues so that a better understanding can be developed regarding government and community willingness to pay to address these issues.