Skip to main content

Scheduled Maintenance Notice

The MyAIMS and EPES will be undergoing maintenance on 11 May 2025.

National Council of Social Service
  1. Home
  2. Research and insights
  3. Capability & capacity
  4. Service delivery
  5. Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration is key to solving complex social issues. By working together, we can amplify our impact and deliver better outcomes.

Last updated 7 May 2025

On this page

Overview
The collaboration spectrum
Three key steps for effective collaboration today
Collective impact
Tools and resources
Team collaborating and discussing work around a computer screen. NCSS about service delivery collaboration.

Overview

We collaborate because complex social issues cannot be solved alone. Many long-standing social issues are profoundly complex, and require quality collaborations to be addressed effectively. Collaboration makes us more efficient and effective while broadening our impact. To achieve these benefits, we have to look beyond individual agencies and programmes to optimise our collective influence, and avoid working in isolation.

Together, we can build a collaborative and impactful social service ecosystem that delivers better outcomes for our service users.

The collaboration spectrum

Stakeholders can identify where they are and where they want to be using the Collaboration Spectrum, a tool used to assess the current and desired levels of collaboration, ranging from competition to integration.

A graphical diagram showing the collaboration spectrum from turf to trust. NCSS collaboration spectrum service delivery.

Three key steps for effective collaboration today

Begin your collaboration journey with these three starter questions. They help to identify whether a Collective Impact approach should be used.

An illustration of three questions to improve collaboration and partnerships. NCSS collaboration questions.

Collective impact

Collective impact is a committed and structured partnership between different stakeholders to work on a common agenda for solving a specific social problem. NCSS actively promotes effective collaboration through the Collective Impact approach. This approach provides a structure for multiple organisations to unite around a common agenda to solve complex social problems.

NCSS supports interested SSAs by connecting relevant partners and providing learning and funding resources.

The power of collective impact: Five critical conditions

In collective impact, actors from diverse sectors unite to tackle social issues. These five conditions define collective impact.

Table showing five conditions for achieving collective impact. NCSS 5 conditions of collective impact.

A practical guide to collaboration

A table showing a practical guide to collaboration steps. NCSS service delivery collaboration guide.

Tools and resources

Collective Impact masterclass

Explore learning sessions on collective impact, offered in partnership with Tamarack Institute.

CoLabs Toolkit

A toolkit from NVPC’s Colabs that can be adapted to various social issues and modalities.

4ST Playbook on strategic partnerships

Steps to foster strategic and sustainable partnerships between sectors and stakeholders for greater impact.