Relational contracting – consultation on draft documents

The department is improving how we work with funded organisations across the community sector.

What is relational contracting?

Relational contracting is a longer‑term, more flexible partnership approach between government and providers. It focuses on delivering clear and practical outcomes for people and communities.

It supports greater collaboration, flexibility and trust, so government and the sector can work more effectively together.

What we heard

Feedback from the community sector shows that traditional approaches can be improved to reduce administrative burden, improve flexibility, and focus on delivering outcomes.

Relational contracting helps services provide more consistent, high-quality support and better results. It also helps keep a stable workforce and gives staff more time to focus on service delivery.

This approach gives organisations more flexibility to achieve real impact. It also helps use public funding more effectively by supporting a stronger and more reliable service system.

Initial consultations through the Families and Children Activity Reform (November to December) showed strong support for relational contracting. Stakeholders supported a staged rollout and readiness support. This feedback is shaping our work.

We are working closely with the Community Sector Advisory Group (CSAG) and other sector partners.

Have your say

We have developed draft documents to support relational contracting.

We invite your feedback on:

• Shell Agreement
• Governance Framework
• Decision Matrix

These are the first documents in a broader set. More resources will be released soon, including:

• Readiness Checklist
• Flexibility Policy
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Readiness Roadmap

Moving forward

We will continue to work with the sector to refine the design and delivery of relational contracting.

The latest versions of documents will be shared here.