Pathway Three: Community Commissioning

On this page you will find information on:

• What is community commissioning
• Key dates
• About the Social Investment Fund

Community-led commissioning is a model where decision-making authority for social service investment is devolved to local leaders, empowering communities to tailor solutions to their specific needs.

The Community-led Commissioning approach aims to empower local leaders to design and deliver services that are more responsive to local needs and context. The intention is to support local collectives that include regional organisations, iwi, hapū, philanthropists and non-government entities to design and deliver services that meet local needs.

Community-led commissioning:

Gives communities greater decision-making authority: by empowering trusted local collectives to shape how services are designed, funded, and coordinated based on what works in their communities

Creates space for innovation: procurement involves a funded discovery and design phase that allows new ideas, local solutions, and joined-up approaches to be tested that will enable robust and informed decision-making

Supports better outcomes through partnership: by combining local knowledge and leadership with government data, systems and investment to deliver more effective, locally tailored support to communities.

We are currently undertaking exploratory policy, legal, and design work to develop options for how community commissioning could work. We are also engaging with philanthropic organisations, iwi, and local collectives about the potential for community commissioning as part of this process.

Round One EOI process

We anticipate running an EOI application process for community commissioning proposals in 2026. 

SIA will invite Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from community collectives in mid-2026. The purpose of the EOI process is to shortlist community collectives that demonstrate strong community leadership and readiness to undertake commissioning activities within their region.

Up to two collectives will then be awarded funding for a Discovery and Design phase enabling them to develop a commissioning framework to inform their response to the subsequent Request for Proposals.

Proposals will be assessed by a specialist evaluation panel, with recommendations provided to Ministers in early 2027.

The Social Investment Fund will:

• invest early to help New Zealanders overcome a range of challenges to achieve their goals
• enable us to test and scale the social investment approach
• work in partnership with social sector organisations, iwi and other agencies.

Read more about the Social Investment Fund.

If you have further questions, you can email us at info@sia.govt.nz.