Partnering for Impact Fund - frequently asked questions
Certification
Will the Office of Social Impact accept alternative social enterprise certification or verification processes to what is included in the guidelines?
No, the Office of Social Impact is not accepting alternative verification processes. For applicants to be eligible, the organisation should be one or more of the following:
- Social Traders certification
- People and Planet First (PPF) verification
- an incorporated Indigenous owned and operated organisation registered via the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) or certified with Supply Nation, and able to demonstrate how they deliver social impact as part of their business operation
- a not-for-profit and/or community organisation including charities (charities must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission).
Organisations interested in obtaining certification or verification can find further information below:
- People and Planet First verification – Queensland Social Enterprise Council (QSEC) is offering to complete a fast-tracked verification process free of charge – visit Verification – Queensland Social Enterprise Council
- Social Traders certification – visit Apply for certification | Social Traders.
Do applicants have to be certified or verified by the expression of interest submission deadline?
No, certification or verification is required by the close of stage 2 applications (3 May 2026, (subject to change).
Location
Do applicants need to be already trading in Queensland to apply?
Yes. Applicants must be operating in Queensland with a physical presence in Queensland. Refer to section 4.2 of the guidelines.
Eligibility and process
Can intermediaries that are social enterprises apply for funding to fund for-purpose organisations?
No, only eligible applicants can apply. The purpose of the fund is to provide funding directly to a social enterprise, not-for-profit or community organisations to help them access capital and deliver proposals that result in new or additional impact in Queensland. It is not intended to be delivered through an intermediary.
An eligible applicant is:
- a genuine social enterprise demonstrated via one or more of the following:
- Social Traders certification
- People and Planet First (PPF) verification; and/or
- People and Planet First (PPF) verification; and/or
- an incorporated Indigenous owned and operated organisation registered via the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) or certified with Supply Nation, and able to demonstrate how they deliver social impact as part of their business operation.
- a not-for-profit and/or community organisation including charities (charities must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission)
Can 2 social enterprises collaborate to submit a proposal as a consortium?
Yes, this is permitted; however, one of the social enterprises must be the applicant with primary responsibility for the proposal and will be, if successful, the contracting party with the State. In addition, roles and governance arrangements between the consortium parties must be clearly defined in the application.
If a consortium approach is used, do all applicants need to be eligible applicants?
No, only the applicant who submits the application (and therefore has primary responsibility for the proposal and, if successful, will be the contracting party with the State) needs to meet the eligibility criteria.
Investment readiness – how much flexibility is there going to be around co-investor funds?
The Office of Social Impact does not expect all investors in a proposal to have completed agreements; however, initial discussions should have been undertaken as part of the scoping activities.
What sort of proposals is Office of Social Impact seeking?
Any proposal that delivers new or additional impact within one or more priority impact areas may be considered (subject to meeting all other conditions of eligibility). Refer to section 5.4 of the guidelines.
What is meant by new or additional impact?
This could be scaling of existing impact, however impact that would not happen without the Partnering for Impact Fund funding to unlock other investment.
Would a greenfield site be considered?
Given proposals need to be operational by December 2027, it is unlikely that greenfield sites would be able to meet this timeframe due to development and construction timing.
Is a new proposal delivered by an existing not-for-profit eligible?
Yes, this would be considered subject to meeting all other eligibility requirements.
If the impact is not within one of the priority areas, can the proposal be considered?
The proposal can be considered subject to the social impact being aligned to broader Queensland Government priorities; the Office of Social Impact is focussed on the new or additional social impact to be provided, recognising that impact does not always fit neatly within the impact areas.
Does aligning with multiple priority impact areas give an applicant an advantage?
No, it is the quality, breadth and depth of the social impact that is of importance.
Is there an application triage process or do we need to lodge a full application?
There is a 2-stage application process with stage one being expression of interest, and stage 2, by invitation only, is a detailed application with evidence requested to support your proposal and eligibility.
Proposal funding requirement
The slides covered during the Partnering for Impact Fund information sessions stated that funding provided may be up to 20% of the proposal funding requirement with a minimum request of $500,000 and maximum request of $2 million indicating that proposal funding requirement value may be between $2.5 to $10 million. Is there a maximum proposal funding requirement value?
There is no maximum proposal funding requirement value that can be submitted as part of an application, noting the maximum funding that could be allocated is $2 million, with a maximum of 20% of the proposal funding requirement.
For example, a proposal funding requirement of $20 million, seeking $2 million, is eligible; the Partnering for Impact Fund contribution would represent 10% of the total funding required.
Can in-kind support be used as part of the proposal value?
Yes, provided a valuation methodology for the in-kind support is clear (for example fair market value) and can be documented or evidenced as part of the Stage 2 long-form application.
Is there a defined period for reviews and Partnering for Impact Fund payments to be occurring?
No, this will be application and proposal specific.
Can a proposal that had already received Queensland Government funding be eligible for Partnering for Impact Fund funding?
This is possible, the proposal and use of funds would need to be assessed to ensure no duplication in use of funding and that new or additional impact is being unlocked.
What is the evidence required to demonstrate that Partnering for Impact Fund funding is needed? Does that mean that without Partnering for Impact Fund funding, the proposal would not proceed?
The Office of Social Impact seeks to provide patient and catalytic capital, to allow impact investors or philanthropists that may otherwise have not funded a proposal due to higher risk or lower returns to invest. The Office of Social Impact will seek to assess the risk appetite and parameters or limitations of co-investors.
Will a social enterprise’s ability to fundraise be considered when looking at a funding gap?
This would be informed by assessment of the proposal and the applicant’s historic financial information and financial model submitted.
Can you clarify how the funding looks from a timeline perspective (capital expenses vs operational expenses)?
Capital expenses cover purchasing assets to establish the proposal, while operational expenses address cash flow shortfalls, typically proposal earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) less interest paid.
If the Partnering of Impact Fund funding was used for a deposit or to get a guarantee, when would it need to be paid back?
This would be informed by assessment of the proposal, applicant and proposal funding sources.
Is $500,000 the minimum funding amount for this fund?
Yes. $500,000 is the minimum funding amount. Your total proposal funding requirement (value) must be at least $2,500,000 to be eligible.