Delivery Partners

Delivery Partners will have separate, service-based investment agreements with the Council. This will ensure that we establish clear expectations with Delivery Partners about the main services they will offer, enabling us to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of investment in these services. It also means that the Council will have a better strategic overview of the services in which it invests.

The Council’s Four Year Investment for Organisations (FYIO) (2025–28) will not have a separate assessment criterion for service organisations, as was previously the case. Four Year Investment for Organisations (2025–28) is open to eligible organisations that develop, create and/or present artistic programs.

Focusing on the provision of services at a national level, the Council will take into consideration the support for services by other jurisdictions, the needs of individual arts practice areas, and the needs of the sector across the cultural and creative industries.

To identify high priority services, the Council is undertaking a detailed analysis of service needs, gaps, and future trends. In some cases, the Council anticipates organisations approved for investment through FYIO for their artistic program may also provide services to the sector. We will include these services in the Council’s analysis of service gaps and priority needs.

Our aim is not to disrupt the great work already being done in the provision of services.

For this reason, we will have a two-stage approach for 2025–28 Delivery Partners:

• In the first stage, we will directly approach identified organisations to submit proposals for specific services.
• In the second stage, depending on budget availability, we may offer a competitive tender process for organisations to provide services in additional identified priority areas.

In November 2022, the Council is in discussion with currently funded organisations that deliver services to work through what their future investment relationship with the Council may look like.

Organisations approached directly to submit a Delivery Partner proposal may choose to accept this offer or, alternatively, if they feel their work is better suited to the Council’s FYIO stream, they may elect to apply to that category.

Organisations that only provide services to the arts or creative industries, rather than supporting an artistic program of activity, are not likely to be competitive in the FYIO category.

We encourage any organisations that are not currently funded and that deliver sector services to contact us to discuss these opportunities.

For the 2025–28 investment cycle:

• July 2023 – relevant service providers will be invited to submit proposals
• January–March 2024 – a tender process for additional services may take place.

All proposals – invited or received in response to a tender – will be assessed by Industry Advisors who will provide advice and recommendations to the Council.

Upon acceptance of a proposal, the Council will negotiate an agreement with a Delivery Partner.

Using this two stage process, the Council will build a national portfolio of Delivery Partners that is responsive to sector needs and is likely to change across time to provide relevant support to the sector.

• Delivery Partners is not an open, application-based category.
• Delivery Partnerships are negotiated agreements between a service provider and the Council.
• We acknowledge that some organisations that present programs of artistic activity also provide services. The Council will continue to provide opportunities for such organisations through its Four Year Investment for Organisations (FYIO) category, as well as through the Delivery Partners stream.
• The Council is undertaking an audit of skills, services and the needs of the sector that will assist to prioritise service needs and priorities for the 2025–28 investment cycle.
• To tender for the provision of priority services, the Council will invite a limited number of organisations in the first stage and may offer an open process in the second stage.
• Delivery Partner submissions and tenders will be reviewed by Industry Advisors who will provide advice and recommendations to the Council.
• Final decisions to invest in Delivery Partners will be made by the Council.