Our very own Michael Traill sat down with Alberto Lidji for a discussion on social investing in Australia, as part of the Do One Better Podcast.
The episode explores a range of topics including:
(1) An overview of philanthropy in Australia today.
(2) Going beyond grant-making and ensuring endowments are invested for impact.
(3) Do investment professionals genuinely value impact investing?
(4) How does a non-profit, impact investment manager actually work?
(5) How do you go about deal flow origination, and what does a deal look like?
(6) How do you go to market with an impact investment proposition?
(7) How will the impact investing market evolve in the coming years?
(8) Do most impact investment opportunities arise from private equity houses, philanthropic foundations, high net worth individuals, or elsewhere?
3 November 2026 - Martin Bowles AO PSM has been appointed Chair of For Purpose Aged Care Australia (FPACA), the not-for-profit aged care provider established by For Purpose Investment Partners (FPIP). A former Secretary of the Department of Health and National Chief Executive Officer of Calvary Health Care, he brings experience in aged care from both government and the not-for-profit sector.
Martin has nearly 40 years of public service experience. As Secretary from 2014 to 2017, he led reforms across aged care, primary health care, mental health, and hospital funding. From 2017 to 2025 he led Calvary Health Care, a national not-for-profit provider of hospital, home, and residential aged care. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019 for distinguished service to public administration.
FPIP Executive Chair Michael Traill, who served as interim Chair of FPACA from June 2026, welcomed the appointment.
“I am delighted to announce Martin’s appointment as Chair of For Purpose Aged Care. He brings a rare combination of experience and leadership across sectors that will be instrumental in the next phase of growth. Martin has led reform from inside government and run a large national not-for-profit care provider, and he understands that financial discipline and an ethic of care belong together. Our vision is to combine the two to provide more quality care for more Australians.”
Martin, who chaired his first Board meeting in September, said he was drawn to FPACA’s model of care backed by long-term investment.
“Having spent much of my career in health and aged care, both in government and at Calvary, I have seen how much the quality of care depends on strong governance and the capacity to invest. You want the people delivering the care to have the support and resources they need, and For Purpose Aged Care absolutely understands this. It is a not-for-profit operator with patient, long-term capital behind it, and that gives us the ability to bring new homes to communities that need them. I look forward to working with Matt, the Board, and the teams across our homes to keep improving the care we provide to residents and their families.”
FPACA Group Chief Executive Officer Matthew Filocamo said:
“Martin joins us as we begin our new three-year strategy, which is about strengthening what we have built so the care keeps getting better as we grow. This month we open South Bunbury Community Aged Care in Western Australia, our 17th home. Martin’s experience leading growth in aged care, and his understanding of the system from his time as Secretary, will help ensure our residents, their families, and our staff remain at the centre of every decision.”
FPACA’s FY2027–29 strategy focuses on strengthening the organisation’s people, technology, and model of care while it continues to open homes in communities where there is a shortage of aged care beds.
FPACA cares for more than 2,000 residents across 16 homes in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. In 2024–25 it built 450 of the 1,700 new beds added in new aged care homes nationally, and it has more than 500 new beds in development, including at South Bunbury (WA), Nerang (QLD), and Rowville (VIC).
About For Purpose Aged Care Australia
For Purpose Aged Care Australia is a national aged care provider with a clear social mission: to deliver high-quality care while creating meaningful social impact. Backed by ethical investors, FPACA reinvests in its people, places, and programs to ensure older Australians receive the respect and support they deserve. The organisation operates more than 2,000 residential aged care beds across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia, with a further 500 currently in development.
29 October 2026 - For Purpose Investment Partners (FPIP) announces that Rob Blackwell will retire as Executive Chair of For Purpose Ability at the end of October 2026. For Purpose Ability is FPIP’s disability services platform, which brings together specialist meal delivery businesses Able Foods and Tender Loving Cuisine (TLC).
Rob was appointed Executive Chair in February 2025. He brought extensive leadership experience from the fast-moving consumer goods sector, including senior roles at Coca-Cola Amatil and as Chief Executive Officer of McWilliam’s Wines. Since joining, he has worked closely with the leadership team and with FPIP to put in place a series of transformational initiatives for both businesses. Between June and August 2026, he also served as Interim Group Chief Executive Officer, providing continuity for customers, staff, and partners until Mark Powell joined as Chief Executive Officer.
‘Rob has made a real difference to Able Foods and TLC in his time as Executive Chair,’ said Michael Traill AM, Executive Chair of FPIP. ‘He worked closely with the team and with FPIP to put in place a series of transformational initiatives that are critical to the growth and sustainability of both businesses. Rob brought a depth of practical experience and a genuine passion for the mission of Able Foods and TLC, and for FPIP’s broader impact objectives and network. We have greatly valued his wisdom and cut through. We thank Rob sincerely for his contribution, wish him the very best for the future, and look forward to his continuing connection to the For Purpose network.’
‘It has been a pleasure to work alongside such a passionate and purpose-driven team at Able Foods, TLC, and FPIP,’ said Rob. ‘I have every confidence in Mark, who is now leading the business as Chief Executive Officer, and in the team around him. We have achieved much in a short time and, while there is more to do, I leave with full confidence that both FPIP and For Purpose Ability will continue to grow and provide outstanding services to those who need it most.’
Victoria Adams, Partner at FPIP and a member of the For Purpose Ability board, will act as interim Chair.
7 October 2026 - The care economy is now the fastest-growing part of Australia's economy, our panellists told the audience. It employs more than 15% of the workforce, ahead of manufacturing, logistics, and retail. It is also where most of us make the decisions that matter most: where a child spends their first years of learning, and how a parent is cared for in their last.
Yet much of this sector is still governed the way it began. Around 27,000 separate agencies deliver care services across the country, according to our panellists. Many started as a church congregation or a country town meeting a local need, and many still operate inside the voluntary, charitable governance frameworks they inherited. Layered on top is 40 years of privatisation and outsourcing policy that promised efficiency and innovation and, according to royal commission after royal commission, delivered neither.
That tension is why For Purpose Investment Partners (FPIP) exists. We want to transform how human services are delivered in Australia by combining business discipline with social purpose. We hold ourselves to two measures at once: social impact and financial return. Purpose is core to how we operate. It is why we bring people together across investment, government, and the not-for-profit sectors. We ask what works, what could be better, and how we keep raising the standard so people can flourish.
To launch our Impact Report 2026 at Collingwood Yards in Melbourne on 17 September, our Founder and Executive Chair, Michael Traill AM, put those questions to two leaders who have run and governed large organisations across business, sport, government, and community services. Craig Drummond chairs the AFL Commission, Transurban, and The Ian Potter Foundation. Bronwyn Pike is a health and human services sector leader and a former Victorian Government minister.
Michael Traill opened with FPIP's thesis: in these sectors, ownership horizons of 10–15 years produce better outcomes than the 3–5 year cycles of private equity or the quarterly pressure on listed companies.
Craig Drummond agreed. "Generally speaking, for-profit has a shorter-term time horizon, and social businesses need to have a longer-term time horizon," he said. "Sensible social capital, or sensible listed capital, takes a generational view."
He was equally direct about why this matters now: "Governments are running out of money. If you are reliant on government, try to get less reliant on government." That is the gap FPIP's capital is designed to fill.
Bronwyn Pike, who spent 11 years as a minister and 10 as chief executive of a major community services agency, was candid about the policy she helped administer. "Royal commission after royal commission has told us that the short-term profit-taking of many who moved into childcare, aged care, and disability has not delivered what was promised," she said. "For the last 20 years we have been very stagnant in our productivity in the care economy. Rather than building up and sustaining existing services, and resourcing them to innovate, we made them compete with each other for a diminishing share of resources."
The market has not fixed the gaps on its own. Childcare deserts persist in growth corridors while affluent postcodes have places to spare. "Government has to get a bit tougher in its planning and its allocation of funds," she said. "It has to be more deliberate about co-location of services."
Her diagnosis is FPIP's starting point: back strong operators, give them the capital and discipline to improve, and stay long enough to see it through.
The closing question came from the floor: how does a fragmented sector accelerate slow-moving policy? Bronwyn Pike's answer was clear. "Demonstrate good practice. Demonstrate what works. Create and provide models that can be replicated."
That is the standard we hold ourselves to. Our Impact Report is one way we demonstrate what works, and what does not, with evidence. Conversations like this one are another. We share what we learn, we stay connected to the purpose behind the numbers, and we build the network of people who can take a proven model further than we could alone.
Read Impact Report 2026 and see photos from the Melbourne launch.
For Purpose Investment Partners acknowledges and pays respect to the past and present Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
We believe diversity, equity and inclusion are critical to creating social impact at For Purpose Investment Partners. A diverse team better reflects the range of experiences and perspectives in the communities we serve. It also creates a healthy, thriving workplace and delivers innovative, sustainable outcomes for our communities, our people, our investors and our partners.
