From our co-CEOs: Ten reasons we’re excited about 2026

Reason #1:
We have a focus on making our dream initiatives a reality

In 2026, we’re excited to be focusing our efforts on a collection of initiatives seeking investment that we believe will make a major contribution to Australia's capability to tackle complex social challenges. These include:

• The National Fund for Social Innovation Learning (to unlock the capability Australia needs to navigate the 21st century)

• The Future Wellness Accelerator (to grow in community action to stem Australia’s mental health crisis)

• The Peer-to-Peer Initiative (to increase the take-up of a low-cost, high-impact service type that enables people to support one another in ways professionals often can’t)

• The National Futures Initiative (to expand Australia’s sense of possibility and build pathways to a fairer future)

• The Impact Networks Initiative (to support the take-up of an approach that helps unlock change across systems that would otherwise stay stuck)

Reason #2:
We’re innovating our RAP

Our new Innovate RAP maps out the next phase of TACSI’s work towards reconciliation. Aunty Vickey Charles, who was Cultural Lead and is our Aunty in Residence, always reminded us that reconciliation doesn’t just happen between the hours of nine and five.

So, our new RAP is a reflection of our commitment to embed reconciliation into the organisation, our people and the partners and communities we work with.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Linkedin to be the first to read our new RAP.

Reason #4:
We’ve evaluated Family to Family and it works!

Together with our partners at  BetterStart, Uniting Communities and the South Australian Government, we’ve launched a new quasi-experimental evaluation of the Family by Family program. The results show that Family by Family is doing exactly what it was co-designed with families to do: Keeping families out of state provided crisis services and helping families thrive.

Reason #5:
There will be more opportunities to learn social innovation with us in 2026

This year, TACSI Learning Hub highlights include:

• Our popular Foundations in Social innovation course is now being delivered in a 4x5 week format, with new self-funded pricing and increased scholarships supported by Perpetual.

• We’re programming new courses delivered in partnership with Third Camp, including Reconciliation and Allyship at Work. 

• We’ll be launching new short workshops on Impact Networks, Just Futuring and Community Innovation.

• We’ve just started our first Alumni networks, so if you’ve learnt with us in the past, look out for an invite. 

… and don’t forget that all courses can be tailored for groups or teams. Contact us to get the conversation started.

Reason #6:
We’re sharing what we know about Participatory Granting

As interest grows in participatory granting, we’ll be sharing what we’ve learnt in an upcoming paper that will focus on how to create the conditions for shared/equitable decision making.

Reason #8:
We’ll be sharing the outcomes from our First Nations Exchange Group

We’ll be sharing the outcomes from our initial trial of a ‘First Nations Exchange Group’ an experiment in bringing First Nations change makers together, under the careful facilitation of TACSI board director Samantha Wild, to explore how TACSI could better support First Nations changemakers in their work.

Reason #9:
We’ll be building partnership to share the story of social innovation

In 2026, we’ll be looking to develop more partnerships with researchers ,filmmakers and others to advance evidence, storytelling and interest in social innovation.

Reason #10:
Our first ever public ‘town hall’!

Later in 2026, we plan to hold our first public ‘town hall’ to share our projects, impact and strategy. As an organisation that’s here to serve Australia, we believe it’s important to get more public with our work.