We’ve matched the ‘Not-for-profit Sector Development Blueprint’ to our resources
The Institute of Community Directors Australia has a mission to help not-for-profit leaders achieve their goals in the short, medium and long term.
With that in mind, we’ve cast a forensic look over the sector-developed Not-for-profit Sector Development Blueprint, which is aimed at guiding the sector over those three horizons, and we’ve matched its key recommendations with our extensive library of resources.
The Blueprint was first flagged in 2022 as a plan to “boost the sector’s capacity to support and reconnect our communities”.
Guided by the Blueprint Expert Reference Group, composed of members of leading not-for-profits and supported by the Department of Social Services, the Blueprint was released in November 2024 after widespread consultation. At the time of publication (April 2025), the government had not yet responded.
The Blueprint – which lays out a 10-year plan – contains 18 recommendations organised into three main “pillars”, which seek to address the external operating and regulatory environment, the employed and volunteer workforce, and the challenge of technological and climate change. The three pillars are:
- an enabling operational and regulatory environment for the not-for-profit sector to thrive
- a people-led and purpose-driven not‑for‑profit sector
- an adaptive and dynamic forward-focused not-for-profit sector.
Blueprint initiatives your organisation can act on now
While the government has made little or no headway on implementing recommendations from the Blueprint, we’ve highlighted a series of recommendations that organisations can address now.
In each category you’ll find resources to help you get started.
Pillar 1: External operating and regulatory environment
Initiative 4a Promote benefits of funding the full costs of NFP sector activities, sustainable procurement and pricing to governments, philanthropy, and the NFP sector.
Resource
Pillar 2: People-led and purpose-driven sector
Initiative 7a Develop agreed sector standards for shared decision-making and services co-design.
Resource
Conducting a community needs assessment
Initiative 7b Collate and promote best-practice examples of shared decision-making and services co-design within and involving NFP sector organisations.
Resource
Social impact practitioners prove why they are the best
Initiative 8a Establish co-governance and shared decision-making protocols of the Blueprint with First Nations NFPs and communities.
Resources
The power of culture, community, country
First Nations cultural awareness training
Initiative 9b Invest in emerging leaders in multicultural community organisations and across the wider NFP sector.
Resources
Cultural diversity governance diploma scholarship
Initiative 10b Ensure disability inclusion and representation forms part of strategy and design related to digital transformation in the NFP sector.
Resources
Webinar: Welcome to neurodiversity
Why understanding neurodiversity will help your organisation
Ten questions every director should ask about neurodiversity
Ten questions every director should ask about diversity
Pillar 2: Workforce (including volunteers) and purpose
Initiative 11a Advocate for practices across sectors that support workforce development and secure and decent work in the NFP sector.
Resources
Keeping your best talent is essential
Initiative 12a Invest in volunteer leadership and management.
Resources
Help sheet: How to show your volunteers you love them
About the NFP leadership certificate
Pillar 3: Adaptive and dynamic sector
Initiative 13a Invest in and promote effective supports that enable NFPs to achieve a minimum level of data, cyber security and digital capability and data-informed management decisions.
Resources
Cyber security self-assessment tool for community organisations
Ten questions directors should ask about cybersecurity
Initiative 13c Measure the NFP sector’s digital capability and review and prioritise sector resourcing needs in relation to changing digital and data capability demands over the life of the Blueprint.
Resource
Privacy rules for community organisations
Initiative 14a Explore potential for developing agreed sector standards for outcomes measurement.
Resources
Ten questions directors should ask about outcomes measurement
More resources: webinars, policies, articles and help sheets on outcomes measurement
Initiative 14b Invest in refining and supporting take up of impact measurement tools and frameworks in use by NFP sector organisations.
Resources
How to measure outcomes in your not-for-profit
Template: Monitoring and evaluation framework
Initiative 17: Establish a social innovation diffusion program, utilising existing networks to enhance knowledge sharing, coordination and resources to all not-for-profit organisations.
Resource
Government-only Blueprint initiatives
These Pillar 1 initiatives from the Blueprint require direct government action, such as legislative changes, policy decisions, or funding allocations. Sector advocacy is likely to be required to spur government into action on these initiatives. We’ve listed them here for your information.
Initiative 1: Prioritise and advocate for cross-jurisdictional harmonisation of standards and regulations that affect the not-for-profit (NFP) sector.
Initiative 2: Broaden and simplify the deductible gift recipient (DGR) system.
Initiative 3a: Amend legislation on NFP rights to advocate in relevant Acts.
Initiative 3b: Fund NFP sector peak bodies to support policy research and related advocacy in priority areas, as informed by their stakeholders.
Initiative 4b: Progress and monitor government actions to deliver full cost funding as sought by the NFP sector, including the application of appropriate indexation and minimum term contract and renewal periods in all areas of service provision.
Initiative 4c: Establish arm’s-length and representative cost data collection processes to inform indexation, full cost calculation models and contracting needs, and delegate the creation and modelling of a Producer Price Index to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Initiative 5: Embed co-governance, co-design and shared decision-making practices in policy development, and in government-led program design and performance evaluation.
Initiative 6a: Improve the use and value of currently collected data, and re-establish routine data collection and dissemination about Australia’s NFP sector by the ABS.
Initiative 8b: Profile and establish mechanisms to enable the shift to First Nations community control of NFP services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.
Initiative 8c: Formalise accountabilities of NFP organisations, alongside governments, in line with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
Initiative 9a: Invest in multicultural community organisations to support effective co-design and engagement with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in policy and service design, implementation and evaluation.
Initiative 10a: Invest in disability representative organisations to support effective co-design of services for, and affecting, people with disability.
Initiative 11b: Raise awareness of government fair jobs codes and their principles in sector practice, and procurement from the NFP sector.
Initiative 11c: Broker NFP sector input into further education curricula and competencies in support of workforce needs.
Initiative 12: Support the priorities of the co-designed National Strategy for Volunteering (NSV), and government and NFP involvement in the development of its action plans.
Initiative 12b: Encourage government investment in volunteering infrastructure and knowledge systems that support volunteers and volunteer-based organisations across Australia.
Initiative 15b: Improve philanthropic funds distribution regulation to support smoothed multi-year distribution of funds.
Initiative 16: Secure a commitment from government to take into account the NFP sector’s contributions across the whole innovation process, and specifically to identify ways to embed innovation opportunities in applicable grant agreements and procurement.
Initiative 18: Undertake a sector-wide climate risk and opportunity review to identify strategies and operational standards that will inform climate change mitigation and adaptation at the organisational and sector levels.
General guidance on advocacy
The experts at the Institute of Community Directors Australia suggest sector organisations will need to bring to bear cross-sector advocacy and partnerships and conflict resolution skills to influence government on the initiatives listed above.
Resources
Advocating in relation to legislation and regulation