Event planning is quickly becoming one of Australia’s favourite pastimes, with new research showing 82% of people aged over 18 have organised an event in the last year, with more than 40% of parties now costing more than $1,000.
The new research, commissioned by event management software group Circolo, showed 52% of Australians aged 18+ organised workplace events in the last year, while 47% have helped organise community events.
Circolo Software launched its SaaS platform at an event on the Gold Coast today. The software is designed to provide professional event organisers with a single, integrated system that eliminates the inefficiencies of spreadsheets, endless email threads, and disconnected tools.
The research is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people conducted by Ruby Cha Cha. It provides a comprehensive insight into the event planning habits of Australians. The research showed:
- Two in five (39%) of Australians have experience in organising a personal, community and workplace event in the last 12 months.
- Coordinating RSVPs remains the biggest challenge with 28% of community event organisers and 29% of community event organisers highlighting it as a frustration.
- The average spent on personal events is $2,298, with one in five events (21%) costing between $500 and $999, and 13% costing more than $5,000.
- Nearly 10% of people had helped organise a personal, workplace or community event for more than 150 people.
- Significantly more males than females organise med-large workplace events (57% vs 43%) and med-large community events (56% vs 44%).
- Party planners say they organise events to save money (76%), because friends and family recognise them as the best person to do it (70%), and they can be confident everything is ‘just the way they like it” (65%).
Circolo has raised more than $1 million from founding shareholders and professional investors. The company plans to undertake a further funding round to raise $1.5 million over coming months to support continued product development and marketing.
Circolo Software Founder & Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Winter said the research highlighted how much time and energy were spent organising events, and what an important role they played in the economy.
“Whether it’s a birthday with a few friends or a multi-day workplace conference, Australians love organising an event that brings people together to celebrate, learn or network,” she said.
“The events industry now employs tens of thousands of people and supports thousands of venues, and is becoming an increasingly critical part of the economy. From our own experience, we know organising events can be time-consuming and frustrating, which is why we set about building software that takes away a lot of the hassle.”
At the heart of Circolo is a centralised event dashboard that provides teams with real-time visibility and control, simplifying collaboration and ensuring every detail is managed seamlessly from planning through to delivery.
Circolo completed its launch after raising more than $1 million from founding shareholders and a SAFE funding round. The company plans to undertake a seed funding round to raise $1.5 million over coming months to support continued product development and growth marketing.
Ms Winter, who has spent more than a decade delivering major events and leading operations teams, said Circolo was born from frustration with the outdated tools available to event managers.
“Event professionals are some of the most resourceful and resilient people in business, but the tools they’ve been forced to use haven’t kept up with the complexity of the job,” Ms Winter said.
“I know the pain of trying to manage large-scale events across multiple spreadsheets, with dozens of moving parts and stakeholders. Circolo was designed to take that pain away – to give event managers their time back, reduce errors, and ultimately deliver a better experience for everyone involved.”
The Circolo platform is designed around four key principles: simplicity, visibility, collaboration, and scalability.
Key features include:
- Centralised Dashboards – A single source of truth for event planning and delivery.
- Task Management & Collaboration Tools – Keep internal teams and external partners aligned in real time.
- Customisable Workflows – Flexible enough to adapt to the unique requirements of each event.
- Data-Driven Insights – Track progress and measure event success with clarity.
- Scalability – Suitable for one-off events through to complex, multi-day programs.
- Event Runsheets – Keep everyone aligned in real-time, role or team-specific views that simplify communication and execution.
Ms Winter said Circolo Software is about empowering people, not just managing logistics.
“At its core, Circolo is about confidence. When you know every detail is tracked, every deadline is visible, and your whole team is on the same page, you can focus on what matters – creating extraordinary experiences for your clients and audiences.”
The company is already seeing strong interest from agencies, corporate event teams, and not-for-profit organisations who have trialled the software during its pilot phase. Early users have praised its intuitive interface, time-saving features, and ability to centralise previously scattered information.
Circolo Software is now available to event managers, agencies, and in-house teams across Australia and internationally.
