What Councils Order for Community Events Across Australia?

Key Points:

• Australian councils give out useful items like pens, tote bags, notebooks, water bottles, and lanyards at community events.
• Giveaways help promote council programs, support campaigns, and make volunteers easy to identify.
• Councils choose practical, affordable, and eco-friendly items so people keep and use them after the event.

Across Australia, councils run many community events, such as festivals, movie nights, youth programs, and workshops. To connect with locals, they hand out branded merchandise that matches the event. Lately, councils have been choosing practical giveaways that people can use and take home. Here’s a summary of the most popular giveaways that councils order for community events around Australia.

Why Councils Use Branded Merchandise?

Local governments use branded merchandise to connect with the community and raise awareness about public services. For example, at a workshop, you might hand out notebooks printed with your logo and the cause you want to highlight.

Councils also use these items to:

• Promote council services and initiatives.
• Encouraging participation in community programs
• Supporting health and safety campaigns
• Providing useful items during public events
• Reinforcing council branding in the community

What Are Their Go-To Giveaways?

Some products are especially popular with Australian councils because they are affordable, practical, and work for people of all ages.

Item	Why Councils Use It	Typical Event Use
Pens	Low cost and widely useful	Community stalls, info booths
Notebooks	Useful for students and workshops	Education programs
Tote bags	Easy to carry brochures and event materials	Markets and festivals
Water bottles	Promote healthy lifestyles	Sports events, fun runs
Lanyards	Identify volunteers or participants	Conferences and workshops

These giveaways are also some of our best-selling items for 2025. They remain popular because they are practical and easy to hand out.

Outdoor Event Merchandise

Many council events take place outdoors, such as in parks, along the foreshore, or in town centres. For these, councils pick durable and easy-to-spot merchandise.

Popular outdoor items include:

• Branded umbrellas
• Reusable water bottles
• Sunglasses
• Caps and bucket hats
• Picnic blankets
• Reusable shopping bags

For Community Awareness Campaigns

Councils often run programs about health, recycling, road safety, or environmental awareness. Branded merchandise helps reinforce these messages.

Campaign Type	Common Merchandise
Environmental programs	Reusable bags, bamboo products
Road safety	Reflective items, keyrings
Public health	Water bottles, fitness towels
Recycling initiatives	Kitchen caddies, magnets
Community safety	Torches, first aid kits

For Kids and Families

Family-friendly events often have activities for children, and councils usually give out merchandise made for kids.

Common Children’s Giveaways.

• Colouring sets
• Stickers
• Frisbees
• Drink bottles
• Lunch boxes

These items are usually packed into gift bags, so children can keep them and carry them around during the event.

Volunteer and Staff Merchandise

Community events often depend on volunteers. Councils usually order clothing or accessories to make volunteers easy to spot.

Item	Purpose
Branded T-shirts	Identifies volunteers
Caps or hats	Sun protection at outdoor events
Lanyards	Staff identification
Tote bags	Carrying event materials

For Setting Up an Event

In addition to giveaways, councils order items to help set up their events. These include:

• Marquee tents
• Feather flags
• Table covers
• Wristbands for entry control
• Badge holders

We custom print these items with the council’s logo to make them stand out during the event.

Preference for Eco-Friendly Merch

Many Australian councils now focus on sustainability when choosing promotional products. Popular eco-focused items include:

• Bamboo drinkware
• Recycled plastic water bottles
• Reusable shopping bags
• Wheat straw stationery
• Compostable food containers

Suppliers now offer more eco-friendly merchandise to support council sustainability goals and policies. This matches the community’s expectations to reduce waste and care for the environment.

How Councils Choose Merchandise?

When choosing items for community events, councils usually look at four main factors.

Factor	Why It Matters
Practicality	Items must be useful to residents
Budget	Events often require large quantities
Audience	Families, seniors, youth or mixed audiences
Sustainability	Increasing focus on eco-friendly options

Practical items that people use often give councils the best long-term visibility.

Typical Quantity Planning for Council Events

Since community events attract large crowds, councils usually order merchandise in bulk.

Event Size	Typical Merchandise Order
Small community event (200–500 people)	300–600 items
Mid-size festival (1,000–3,000 people)	1,500–3,000 items
Large public festival (5,000+ people)	3,000–10,000 items

Why Practical Items Work Best?

Good event merchandise is practical, works for all age groups, and is easy to carry. When chosen well, these products do more than promote an event. They help councils connect with locals, encourage people to join more community programs, and keep local initiatives in people’s minds long after the event.

About the Author

Charles Liu

Owner

Charles Liu is the Founder and a recognised authority in the promotional products and uniforms industry in Australia. With over 20 years of experience, he has guided Cubic Promote to work with over 15,000 Australian organisations. His specialty is helping Aussie companies select the right products that stay within their budget. He also specialises in sourcing and assisting brands and government agencies in selecting corporate gifts for VIPs and high-profile clients. A regular contributor to industry blogs, Charles shares his expert insights on using branded merchandise to achieve business goals. Charles’s deep understanding of industry trends and strong supplier relationships make him a trusted figure in the sector, continually influencing the development of both products and uniforms that deliver tangible, measurable results.