Victorians with disability: Social procurement guide

Overview

Opportunities for Victorians with disability is one of 7 social procurement objectives in the Social Procurement Framework.

Paid work builds a sense of self-worth and independence. It also provides people with disability with:

higher incomes
more spending power as consumers
power to invest in housing and education

This objective has two outcomes:

purchasing from Victorian social enterprises and Australian Disability Enterprises
employment of Victorians with disability by suppliers to the Victorian Government

To find out more about Victorian social enterprises and Australian Disability Enterprises, see Find social benefit suppliers.

Applies to all value thresholds.

There are two ways to deliver this outcome:

Direct approach

Buy directly from relevant Victorian social enterprises and Australian Disability Enterprises. Social enterprises are relevant if they have a focus on employing Victorians with disability. See, Find social benefit suppliers.

Indirect approach

Include Victorian social enterprises and Australian Disability Enterprises in the supply chain. Request potential tenderers to show which businesses they intend to subcontract and set targets for expenditure with Victorian social enterprises and Australian Disability Enterprises.

Employment of Victorians with disability

This outcome applies differently to lower and higher value procurements.

for procurement projects under $20 million, seek information from suppliers about employment or training opportunities provided for Victorians with disability.
for procurement projects over $20 million, set supplier targets for employment and training of Victorians with disability. Ask suppliers to demonstrate how they will meet targets.

For procurement projects over $20 million, there are two components to deliver this outcome:

commit to a target for employment outcomes for Victorians with disability
identify Victorians with disability

Buyers can support suppliers to achieve and maintain employment outcomes by directing them to a range of support networks available. This helps suppliers successfully increase their employment of people with disability and make reasonable adjustments to provide a fair and accessible work environment. See, Opportunities to maximise impact below.

Procurement activities by threshold

Buyers must always follow local Agency procurement processes.

Suppliers may need to demonstrate status:

as a certified Victorian social enterprise or Australian Disability Enterprise
of suppliers in their supply chain as a certified Victorian social enterprise or Australian Disability Enterprise

Consider:
- buy directly from a relevant Victorian social enterprise or Australian Disability Enterprise
- buy from a supplier with a Victorian social enterprise or Australian Disability Enterprise in their supply chain
Consider:
- unbundling the procurement to provide greater opportunities for Victorians with disability
- suppliers that have Victorian social enterprises or Australian Disability Enterprise in their supply chain
Consider:
- supplier targets for expenditure with Victorian social enterprises or Australian Disability Enterprises
  - ask suppliers to demonstrate how they will meet targets
  - use fixed targets
  - look at growth targets for a multi-year contract
- set supplier targets for employment and training of Victorians with disability
  - ask suppliers to demonstrate how they will meet targets
  - ask suppliers to show inclusive employment practices for Victorians with disability
- unbundle part of the procurement where Victorian social enterprises or Australian Disability Enterprises could deliver a part of the procurement activity
The social procurement model clauses provide guidance on how to seek and set social procurement commitments.
For goods and services, the model clauses need to be embedded in the market approach documents. See, Social procurement toolkit .
For construction, clauses related to social procurement (including building equality policy) have been embedded in approved standard form construction contracts.

Also, see Social procurement requirements and expectations for ideas about recommended actions based on value thresholds. Value thresholds are exclusive of GST.

Opportunities to maximise outcomes

There are initiatives available to help maximise outcomes for Victorians with disability. Buyers can reference these initiatives in Invitation to Supply documentation, where appropriate.

Jobs Victoria

Jobs Victoria provides targeted support to people who face challenges finding employment. Jobs Victoria services are focussed on the locations most in need and include:

Jobs Victoria Mentors in the five priority local government areas of Brimbank, Hume, Dandenong, Shepparton and Latrobe. The service supports jobseekers who are long term unemployed (at least 12 months) or at risk of long term unemployment.
Work and Learning centres to support people looking for work, especially those living in public or social housing.

For goods and services, buyers can refer to Jobs Victoria when selecting the employment of people with disability by suppliers to the Victorian Government outcome in invitation documents.

For construction, public or social housing construction projects should consider referencing Jobs Victoria. In particular, Work and Learning Centres.

Inclusive Victoria: State Disability Plan 2022 to 2026

Inclusive Victoria: state disability plan (2022–2026) is about an inclusive community that makes things fairer for people with disability.

Inclusive Victoria commits to:

improve buyer understanding of the Social Procurement Framework
promote Victorians with disability outcomes in market approaches
encourage Victorians with disability objectives in social procurement strategies
develop supplier materials to better understand the Victorians with disability objective. The materials will outline examples of good practice, case studies and resources.

JobAccess

JobAccess is a national hub for workplace and employment information. It is for people with disability, employers and service providers. It brings together the information and resources that can ‘drive disability employment’.

The National Disability Recruitment Coordinator promotes the skills of people with disability. to larger employers. The coordinator assists with workplace policies and practices to support people with disability.

The coordinator:

provides a comprehensive job vacancy service
provides workplace training and employer seminars on disability awareness
connects employers to the national network of Disability Employment Services

Disability Employment Services

Disability Employment Services provide specialist employment assistance. They help people with disability, injury or health conditions find suitable employment.

Disability Employment Services provide employers with different services. This includes help to hire workers with disability. This also includes access to financial incentives and support.

See, JobAccess for more information.

Buying from Victorian social enterprises and Australian Disability Enterprises contributes to other procurement-related policies. Outline in the invitation documents that expenditure with Victorian social enterprises and Australian Disability Enterprises contributes to:

local content (under the Local Jobs First policy)
expenditure on small to medium sized enterprises

Find Victorian social enterprises and Australian Disability Enterprises

When choosing a social enterprise to engage, make sure it is aligned with employment of Victorians with disability by suppliers to the Victorian Government. See, the ‘Beneficiaries’ tab in Social Traders Social Enterprise Finder for information about each social enterprise.

The eProcurement platform has a list of Victorian social benefit suppliers. Buyers are encouraged to search for suppliers on this platform.

The Victorian Government has a membership with Social Traders. Buyers are encouraged to search for suppliers on this platform.

Australian Disability Enterprises can be located in the BuyAbility directory

Tools and support

For more information about social procurement, please contact Buying for Vic.

Updated 19 November 2024