The Department of Communities (Communities) is committed to delivering better outcomes for children, young people, families and communities in Western Australia.
As a key deliverable under the Western Australia’s State Commissioning Strategy for community services, the 2026 Agency Commissioning Plan (ACP) has been released to provide an overview of Communities’ strategic approach to commissioning community services over the next 5 years (2026-2030), with a focus on the first 2 years (2026 and 2027).
The ACP outlines how Communities intends to progressively implement a strategic commissioning approach for community services, that supports strategic priorities of the State Government and reflects valuable insights from the community services sector, service users, Aboriginal people and people with lived experience.
Our ACP priorities from 2026 to 2027 include:
- Maintaining strong sector engagement;
- Refining strategic planning for commissioning community services (including governance arrangements) and aligning to the State Commissioning Strategy for Community Services 2022;
- Building the Department’s maturity in the phases of commissioning community services;
- Prioritising Aboriginal people and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) including the priority programs where commissioning during 2026 and 2027 will focus on ACCO involvement;
- Improving data and outcomes to support commissioning decision making; and
- Supporting a sustainability focus for community service providers and alignment with the budget process and authorising environment through application of the Financial Guidelines for Government Agencies Commissioning Community Services 2024.
The ACP is directly linked to the Communities’ budget and aims to provide transparent information to create opportunities for greater collaboration across the community services sector. The delivery of community services in partnership with the community services sector will achieve better outcomes for vulnerable Western Australians and remains at the heart of our commissioning initiatives.
Engagement with the community services sector and broader community stakeholders will continue to be undertaken for each of the commissioning activities in the ACP. Read more about the ACP below.
Further information
If you have any questions, or would like to receive updates on the project please email strategiccommissioning@communities.wa.gov.au.
Documents
Department of Communities Agency Commissioning Plan for Community Services 2026 (PDF, 1.68MB)
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