Arts Centre Melbourne Catering Services - Expressions of Interest Now Open

Perfectly Paired Group is proud to be supporting Arts Centre Melbourne in the launch of its Catering Services Tender - a landmark opportunity to establish a long-term hospitality partnership at one of Australia’s most significant cultural destinations.

A Cultural Heartbeat Beneath the Spire

Sitting beneath Melbourne’s iconic Spire, Arts Centre Melbourne (ACM) is the nation’s largest and busiest performing arts centre. The precinct includes Hamer Hall, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and the Theatres Building (State Theatre, Fairfax Studio and Playhouse). It is also home to the Australian Music Vault and from December 2025, the Australian Museum of Performing Arts.

ACM proudly hosts its flagship Resident Companies - The Australian Ballet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Theatre Company and Opera Australia - alongside a wide range of presenters who bring the stages and spaces to life. Guided by its vision to be a globally recognised destination and gathering place for all to experience the wonders of the performing arts, ACM is more than a venue - it is a cultural heartbeat for Victoria.

A Landmark Hospitality Partnership

For the first time since 2013, Arts Centre Melbourne is seeking to appoint an exclusive catering partner to deliver food and beverage services across its venues.

This opportunity will unite performance, place and palate - elevating hospitality in a way that is creatively aligned, commercially powerful and deeply respectful of ACM’s purpose and its diverse audiences. Food and beverage will be positioned as an attraction in its own right, integral to the visitor experience and to the life of the precinct.

Scope of Services

The appointed catering partner will manage a diverse portfolio of retail outlets, foyer bars, dining venues, premium hospitality and event catering, including:

• The Barre

• Protagonist

• Foyer Bars - Theatres Building & Hamer Hall

• President’s Lounge

• The Dining Room / Members Lounge

• Wirth’s Café

• The Deli - Australian Ballet Building

• Function Rooms - Theatres Building & Hamer Hall

• Sidney Myer Music Bowl Bars

  
  

Future opportunities linked to the redevelopment may include:

• The Dining Room expansion

• A Northern Restaurant

• A Northern Coffee Window

• A new Event Space

The precinct includes Hamer Hall, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and the Theatres Building (State Theatre, Fairfax Studio and Playhouse), and houses the Australian Music Vault and the forthcoming Australian Museum of Performing Arts (opening December 2025).

A New Era for Arts Centre Melbourne and the Precinct

This opportunity comes at a defining moment for Arts Centre Melbourne. Development Victoria, in partnership with Arts Centre Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria and Creative Victoria, is delivering the $1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct Redevelopment - Australia’s largest cultural infrastructure project.

The transformation will reshape Melbourne’s cultural heart, creating new connections, new creative spaces and expanded opportunities for hospitality.

For Arts Centre Melbourne, the redevelopment includes:

• Significant upgrades to the Theatres Building, including two new food and beverage outlets built into the western and northern façades

• Refurbishment of the State Theatre auditorium - the most significant since its 1984 opening - delivering greater accessibility, improved comfort and upgraded technology

• New rehearsal facilities, an expanded loading dock and back-of-house improvements

  
  

Across the broader precinct, highlights include:

• The Fox: NGV Contemporary - a new global destination for contemporary art, led by the NGV

• Laak Boorndap - an 18,000sqm urban garden with biodiverse planting, public art and community spaces

• Enhanced outdoor areas for performances, activations and food and beverage experiences

  
  

Together, these investments will elevate Melbourne’s standing as a global cultural destination, with hospitality playing a central role in the life of the precinct.

Key Milestones

• Expression of Interest (Open) - 10 September to 19 September

• Request for Tender (Closed, by Invitation) - 3 October to 11 November

• Caterer’s Walk Through & Briefing - 7 October (8-10am)

• Contracting - December 2025

• Contract Commencement - 1 July 2026

Registration and details available via Tenders Victoria Reference Number: ACM0267O

Timelines are indicative only and subject to change.

Perfectly Paired Group is proud to support Arts Centre Melbourne in this exciting new era, as hospitality and culture come together at the heart of the precinct.