Pathway One: New Investment (Round One)

On this page you will find information on:

• About Pathway One
• The priority outcomes and cohorts for New Investment Round One
• Key dates
• About the Social Investment Fund

More information on the application process for Pathway One will be added to this page in August.

Pathway One is for new investments in initiatives that focus on priority cohorts and outcomes and strongly demonstrate the social investment approach.

The Social Investment Fund will make several ‘new investments’ in the first round.

Organisations seeking new investment will need to evidence how their proposed initiatives will support priority groups of the population (cohorts) to achieve one or more priority outcomes.

The organisations selected will need to be ready to work with the Social Investment Fund to help us test how Government and the social sector can work smarter together, including collaborative and robust approaches to evaluation and learning, secure data-sharing agreements; and outcome-based contractual arrangements centred on a theory of change.

Applicants will need to demonstrate that their proposals will focus on outcomes for particular groups of people.

Priority cohorts

The cohorts are:

1. children whose parent(s) are currently or have recently been in prison,
2. children of parent(s) who experienced the care system, and
3. children that were stood down or suspended from school when they were 12 or younger. 

The cohorts have been chosen by Social Investment Fund Ministers based on Government priorities and the significant potential children in these cohorts (and their families) have to achieve improved outcomes later in life. Cohorts may change in future funding rounds.

Priority outcomes

The outcomes are:

Improved health:

• Reduced serious health events 
• Reduced potentially avoidable hospitalisations 

Greater safety: 

• Reduced need for children to be placed in state care 
• Reduced violent crime 
• Reduced youth crime 
• Reduced family violence 
• Reduced sexual violence

Ensuring stable and secure housing:

• Reduced demand for emergency housing

Improving knowledge and skills:

• Improved attendance in education
• Improved qualifications

Growing income and wealth:

• Higher incomes

Supporting people into work:

• Increased employment
• Fewer people on the benefit

The Social Investment Fund will:

• focus on priority outcomes and cohorts agreed by Fund Ministers
• invest early to help New Zealanders overcome a range of challenges to achieve their goals
• enable us to test and scale the social investment approach
• work in partnership with social sector organisations, iwi and other agencies.

In 2025 and early-2026, the Social Investment Fund will primarily make new investments in organisations that have the infrastructure and capacity to help us test and scale the social investment approach at pace. This work will pave the way for changes that will benefit the wider social sector.

We will be hosting webinars and Q&A sessions to help you decide if this round of funding is right for your organisation. 

We will publish more resources to help with your application in the coming weeks.

If you have further questions, you can email us at info@sia.govt.nz.