Detailed guidance for opportunities for Victorian Aboriginal people

Find model approaches and further information in relation to opportunities for Victorian Aboriginal people.

Introduction

Opportunities for Victorian Aboriginal people is one of seven social procurement objectives included in the Social Procurement Framework.

Corresponding social outcomes

The Social Procurement Framework identifies two social outcomes corresponding to this social procurement objective:

  • Purchasing from Victorian Aboriginal businesses
  • Employment of Victorian Aboriginal people by suppliers to the Victorian Government
  • These outcomes are addressed separately below

Individual procurement activity requirements for government buyers (Table 3 of the Social Procurement Framework) recommends the following actions:

For individual procurement activities valued below $1 million (regional) or $3 million (metro or State-wide) (exclusive of GST), government buyers seek opportunities to directly or indirectly procure from Victorian Aboriginal businesses.

For individual procurement activities valued at or above $1 million (regional) or $3 million (metro or State-wide) up to $20 million (exclusive of GST), government buyers consider whether part of the procurement can be unbundled for delivery from Victorian Aboriginal businesses.

For individual procurement activities valued at or above $20 million (exclusive of GST), government buyers set targets for supplier expenditure with Victorian Aboriginal businesses and ask suppliers to demonstrate how they will meet such targets.

Purchasing from Victorian Aboriginal businesses

Benefits for Victorians

The Victorian Government recognises that:

  • Victorian Aboriginal people, organisations and businesses already make valuable contributions to Victoria's diverse economy;
  • the Victorian Aboriginal business sector is large, diverse and includes for-profit businesses, social enterprises and community enterprises;
  • Aboriginal economic development is vital to growing Victoria's wealth generally and to increasing overall economic productivity and competitive advantage; and
  • Aboriginal economic participation and development is also a vital foundation for self-determination.

Improving the visibility and networks of Aboriginal businesses is a strategic priority of Tharamba Bugheen – Victorian Aboriginal Business Strategy 2017-2021.

The Victorian Government has set a target of 1% of government procurement from small to medium enterprises to be from Aboriginal businesses. The target is to be achieved by 2019-2020.

Model approach for government buyers

There are two model approaches to delivering this outcome:

  • Direct approach to social procurement – selectively target Victorian Aboriginal businesses or, alternatively, ensure that Victorian Aboriginal businesses are included in any market approach.

AND/OR

  • Indirect approach to social procurement – require mainstream suppliers to include Victorian Aboriginal businesses within their supply chain (for example, by way of sub-contracting).

Where appropriate, government buyers may also require suppliers to evidence their status, or the status of suppliers in their supply chain, as a Victorian Aboriginal business.

Further information for government buyers

The information below will help government buyers identify Victorian Aboriginal businesses for the purpose of the model approaches.

The VendorPanel procurement platform is available to all departments and agencies to access social benefit suppliers. There is no cost for enabling this platform, as access has been provided through the Victorian Government State Purchase Contract for eProcurement.

VendorPanel has a social benefit supplier marketplace that, among other things, provides government buyers with access to the:

  • Kinaway marketplace, verified by Kinaway, the Victorian Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce; and
  • Indigenous business marketplace, verified by Supply Nation.

Government buyers can use VendorPanel’s social benefit supplier marketplace to identify verified Aboriginal businesses, which are searchable by category and geographical location, and to put quotes to these businesses. The suppliers that you can view on VendorPanel will depend on the partner organisations with which your organisation has a membership. The following access arrangements currently apply:

  • Kinaway Marketplace – available to all departments and agencies; and
  • Supply Nation Marketplace – available only to those departments and agencies who are Supply Nation members.

Victorian Aboriginal businesses may be verified by Kinaway and/or Supply Nation. Where a government buyer identifies a supplier that appears to meet the definition of ‘Victorian Aboriginal business’ in the Social Procurement Framework, but which is not verified by either Kinaway or Supply Nation, contact Business Victoria which, in consultation with Kinaway, will make a determination on whether the supplier meets the relevant definition.

Government buyers can obtain further information about:

Employment of Victorian Aboriginal people by suppliers to the Victorian Government

Benefits for Victorians

Employment has a wealth of positive outcomes for individuals, from building confidence and self-esteem, to enabling more independent and stable lifestyles and providing opportunities for social interaction and community engagement.

The Victorian Government is actively working with Victorian Aboriginal businesses, members of the Victorian Aboriginal community and key partners to support the economic advancement of Aboriginal Victorians by:

  • creating more job opportunities across the economy
  • building the capacity of employers to support and nurture Aboriginal talent
  • growing Aboriginal enterprise and investment

Model approach for government buyers

The model approach to delivering this outcome involves two components, requiring suppliers to:

  • commit to targets for employment and/or training outcomes for Victorian Aboriginal people (note: the government buyer may select one or more cohorts or include all cohorts)
  • explain how they will identify Victorian Aboriginal people and support them to achieve and maintain employment and training outcomes

Response schedules

The response schedules related to opportunities for Victorian Aboriginal people are available on the Social procurement toolkit.

Further information for government buyers

In considering employment opportunities, it is recommended that the focus be on responding to demonstrated employer/industry workforce needs and providing pathways to employment that are likely to be sustained over time.

There are several government, non-government and private sector organisations to help suppliers create employment opportunities for Victorian Aboriginal people, which include the following:

Indigenous recruitment companies operating in Victorian include, but are not limited to:

jobactive is the Australian Government’s way to get more Australians into work – connecting job seekers with employers – and is delivered by a network of jobactive providers in over 1,700 locations across Australia.

Employers can use a local jobactive provider for tailored recruitment services, at no cost to their business. jobactive providers work closely with employers to understand their recruitment needs. Job seekers can get help from a jobactive provider to obtain and maintain employment. jobactive providers have the flexibility to tailor their services to a job seeker’s assessed needs.

Jobs Victoria was established in 2016. It provides tailored services to support and connect jobseekers and employers. With its network of partners throughout the state, it assists jobseekers to become job-ready through mentoring, training and development. At the same time, it works closely with employers to identify exactly the types of skills and experience they require.

Through this process, Victorian businesses gain access to a source of quality candidates, and jobseekers find meaningful, ongoing employment. This has great benefit for individuals, communities and the Victorian economy.

Information about two non-Indigenous group training organisations used by Jobs Victoria to place/train Aboriginal apprentices and trainees is available at:

Tools and support

This content on this page is taken from the Social Procurement Framework – Buyer Guidance Guide to individual procurement activity requirements. Access a PDF version in the social procurement document library.

For more information about social procurement, please contact the Social Procurement team.

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