Insights

Measuring the impact of Sustainability Victoria

30/10/2018

In late 2017, ACIL Allen was commissioned by Sustainability Victoria (SV) to undertake an independent impact assessment of its programs and initiatives to objectively quantify the value SV provides to the Victorian community. SV is a statutory authority established by the Victorian Government to facilitate and promote environmental sustainability in the use of resources.

The report assessed economic, social and environmental benefits of SV’s programs. A representative sample of SV’s initiatives were assessed, representing 17 out of 62 projects undertaken since 2011.

Initiatives were divided into three project tiers:

For the five assessed Tier 1 projects, ACIL Allen found that SV delivered a benefit-cost ratio of 2.49, generating $248.4 million in total present value of benefits to Victoria from an investment of $28.6 million in the five projects. 

While not quantified, when all program benefits are taken into consideration, the total benefits from all of SV’s programs are likely to significantly exceed the organisation’s total expenditure since 2011.

Other key findings are:

ACIL Allen’s assessment and its findings will be used to improve SV’s approach to project design effectiveness, and the monitoring and evaluation of its ongoing work.