The founding partners were DEST (Australia) and JISC (UK). It was anticipated that as the e-Framework evolved, new partners would join the collaboration, and in fact the New Zealand Ministry of Education signed a partnership agreement with JISC in April 2006 that included cooperation on the development of the e-Framework.

On 15 June 2007, New Zealand’s Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Netherlands' SURF Foundation were formally welcomed as Partners in the e-Framework Initiative.

New partnership arrangements were formalized at a meeting in London of the JISC-DEST Cooperation Partnership Board. While overall responsibility for the initiative remains with the Board, the new Partners will participate in the e-Framework Partners’ Strategy Group and the e-Framework Partners’ Management Group.

In 2008, DEST was replaced by a new department within the Australian Government, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).