Victorian Government Purchasing Policies – Webinar
GAVIN MOREIRA, Member Services Manager for CMPA provides an update on the Victorian Government Purchasing Policies Plan Webinar held via MS Teams for CMPA members.
On 16th September 2021, the CMPA held a webinar to assist members when it comes to understanding Victorian government purchasing policies such as the Local Jobs First policy (LJF) and social procurement policy.
There is an increasing requirement by government for businesses to comply with the LJF and social procurement commitments, especially when bidding for and managing construction and related projects. Even if you are a potential third party contractor you may be required to submit the compliance information necessary to win the job.
Mia Consulting Services (Mia) was pleased to offer their support to CMPA and its members to better understand and meet these policy requirements. Mia provided an overview of the LJF and social procurement policy requirements as well as processes for gathering and submitting data and reporting against these policy commitments tailored to the quarry industry.
An overview of the LJF and Social Procurement included:
- The LJF policy and associated requirements such as the Local Industry Development Plan and Major Projects Skills Guarantee.
- Understanding the Victorian Government’s Social Procurement Framework.
- How to report on social procurement and local content commitments, including some practical tips and tricks.
The Local Jobs First policy has two components: local content measured as a percentage of contract value and expressed within a Local Industry Development Plan (LIDP) and jobs expressed as jobs retained and created, as well as apprentice and trainee roles. The Major Projects Skills Guarantee (MPSG) is a measure of apprenticeship and trainee roles created for work greater than $20M.
The Social Procurement Framework contains social and sustainable objectives for businesses to consider when tendering for government work.
The Victorian Government places a high weighting on these procurement requirements. In some tenders, they can attract a weighting of up to 20%. From a contract perspective, the government is likely to include penalties if a supplier is unable to deliver against tendered commitments, such as in local content or social procurement.
Scenario: the building of a road….
• Road Works, a road construction company is tendering for the refurbishment of the O’Herns Road Upgrade project (intersecting with the Hume Highway)
• Part of the tender requirements include:
− A Local Industry Development Plan (LIDP) with MPSG applied
− A Social Procurement Commitment Proposal
• The government agency, Major Roads Projects Victoria, has indicated their social procurement commitments to:
− Supporting sustainable regions, in particular regional employment, and those in the disadvantaged cohorts
− Supporting safe and fair workplaces
− Sustainable social enterprises and indigenous businesses
The social procurement proposal
• Road Works will be supporting 2 social enterprises as part of its proposal to government who will provide waste removal and waste management for the project
• 2 of the suppliers it is working with are based in regional Victoria and employ local people (they are supplying sand and crushed rock)
• Road Works is ISO accredited for OH&S and has supporting policies that ensure safety and fairness in its workplace and on the project
• Road Works will be working with a local indigenous company to identify native plants and include them as part of the landscaping for the road verges. They will do the landscaping and planting at the end of the road construction.
• In addition, Road Works will commit to changing 50% of its office supply purchases to social enterprises.
✓Supporting sustainable regions, in particular regional employment, and those in the disadvantaged cohorts
✓Supporting safe and fair workplaces
✓Sustainable social enterprises and indigenous businesses
It is therefore critical that business can accurately identify social and local procurement commitments and corresponding targets to report against. Businesses must also identify the social and local procurement commitments across their supply chains and describe this and corresponding targets in their tender responses. To meet these requirements, it can be useful for businesses to implement a streamlined reporting process for themselves and their subcontractors.
Mia Consulting Services Pty Ltd have developed a Social Procurement Template for Members. A copy of the webinar recording and the PowerPoint presentation are also available by contacting the Secretariat on the phone or via email.
Contact us: info@miaconsulting.com.au
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