Local Peoples

What Local Peoples does

Local Peoples is a privately-held Australian strategic design studio founded in 2010, operating from studios in Melbourne (Abbotsford Convent) and Canberra. The firm provides human-centred design, research, and strategy services to government departments as its primary client segment, with supplementary work for enterprise, education, and nonprofit clients. Its service portfolio spans public sector services, placemaking, innovation, content and publishing, brand experience, future learning, and strategic branding — all delivered through a co-design methodology that assembles bespoke multidisciplinary teams and emphasizes deep community engagement, particularly with vulnerable populations.

The firm's core methodology is its co-design approach, which combines rapid proof-of-concept development, cumulative impact measurement across project lifecycles, and embedded capability uplift that equips client teams to maintain solutions autonomously. Local Peoples publishes Matters Journal, a weekly digital and biannual print publication covering arts, design, technology, health, food, and the environment, which functions as a thought leadership platform. The firm also produces proprietary research such as its 'Designing for Inclusion in Public Services' report examining the costs of exclusion in public service design. It is B Corp certified, signaling formal commitment to social and environmental performance standards, and maintains an active presence across Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Local Peoples generates revenue through professional services engagements delivered on a project basis, with new business enquiries directed to Creative Director Pino. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and all engagements appear to be quote-based, consistent with a custom professional services model. With only 1–10 employees, the firm operates as a boutique studio rather than a scaled consultancy. The go-to-market motion is direct, relationship-led engagement with government departments and select enterprise clients; no digital self-serve or marketplace distribution exists. Operating geography is limited to Australia.

Name

Local Peoples

Legal name

Local Peoples

Website

https://localpeoples.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Local Peoples is an Australian strategic design studio founded in 2010, delivering human-centred co-design, research, and strategy services primarily to government departments across federal, state, and local levels, with select enterprise clients including Nike and KPMG.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Collingwood

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Design and Research: Local Peoples generates revenue through delivering professional consulting services including research, design, strategy, and transformation projects for government and enterprise clients. Services are delivered through bespoke multidisciplinary teams on a project basis.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Local Peoples is a strategic design studio that delivers human-centred design, research, and transformation services for government departments and enterprise clients. It assembles bespoke multidisciplinary teams to co-design policy, services, programs, and technology with citizens—particularly vulnerable communities—and embeds capability uplift so client teams can sustain outcomes independently.

Product overview

Local Peoples is a studio and community of research, design and transformation experts offering a portfolio of co-design and consulting services. The company operates across Australia with studios in Melbourne and Canberra, providing government departments and organizations with multidisciplinary design services. The service portfolio includes Public Sector Services, Placemaking, Innovation, Content & Publishing, Brand Experience, Future Learning, and Strategic Branding. The company also publishes Matters Journal as a weekly digital and biannual print publication covering arts, design, technology, health, food and environment topics, and produces research reports such as the 'Designing for Inclusion in Public Services' report. Services are delivered through a human-centred design process focused on citizen-centric and environmental challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Matters Journal: A weekly digital and biannual print publication telling interconnected stories from the worlds of arts, design, technology, health, food and the environment. Published by Local Peoples.

Products and services

• Public Sector Services Government-focused design services that help departments confirm whether policy intentions of products and services continue to solve the right problems and serve users effectively, while avoiding unintended consequences.
• Placemaking Design and research services focused on creating engaging public spaces and community-oriented environments.
• Innovation Services supporting clients to research, prioritise, and create proof-of-concept ideas rapidly and affordably, focusing on delivering maximum value.
• Content & Publishing Research and content creation services for public sector and organizational communication needs.
• Brand Experience Services focused on measuring cumulative impact across project lifecycles to ensure tangible net citizen outcomes.
• Future Learning Capability uplift services that equip client teams with the knowledge and skills to maintain solutions and deliver continuous improvement autonomously.
• Strategic Branding Strategic branding services for government and organizational transformation initiatives.

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: Global design and innovation firm with established public-sector practice. Competes for similar government and enterprise design mandates but at much larger scale and brand recognition.
• Aurecon: Large Australian engineering and infrastructure advisory firm with an in-house design and human-centred design practice. Competes for government transformation mandates as part of a wider portfolio.
• KPMG Australia (Design & Innovation practice): Big-four advisory with a design and citizen experience practice serving Australian federal and state government. Overlaps with Local Peoples on policy and service design engagements, but at much larger scale and as part of a broader advisory portfolio.

Direct peers

• Two Bullet: Australian design strategy and innovation consultancy working with government, corporate and startup clients on citizen-centric and transformation challenges. Overlaps directly with Local Peoples' service design offering.
• PaperGiant: Australian design research and strategy studio delivering qualitative research, service design and strategy projects for government and purpose-driven organisations. Comparable boutique scale and methodology.
• Meld Studios: Australian strategic design studio delivering research, service design and transformation work for government and enterprise. Closely comparable in size, methodology and client mix to Local Peoples.
• ThinkPlace: Australian service design and innovation consultancy that partners with government and enterprise on human-centred design. Direct competitor for the same public-sector co-design mandates Local Peoples pursues.
• Livework Studio: European-origin service design consultancy with global practice, helping organisations design better services and policies. Comparable in methodology (co-design, service design) but operates at larger scale across multiple geographies.

Emerging players

• Dark Horse: Australian brand and experience design studio with some crossover into government and transformation work. Comparable in scale and creative discipline, with partial overlap on strategic branding and brand experience services.
• Foolscap Studio: Australian independent design studio with crossover into spatial, brand and placemaking work. Partial overlap with Local Peoples' placemaking and strategic branding service lines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/localpeoples
• LinkedInau.linkedin.com/company/the-locals-agency
• Instagraminstagram.com/localpeoples

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Local Peoples