Overview
This section primarily concerns the indirect approach to social procurement and where a detailed invitation to supply is being used.
Invitation documents need to include:
- A description of the social and/or sustainable objectives and outcomes prioritised for this procurement
- Define what outcomes are required, not how suppliers should deliver them. This allows suppliers to innovate and makes evaluation easier
- Weighted evaluation criteria
- Performance indicators
- Allow progress against social procurement commitments to be monitored and verified
Steps to prepare invitation documents
Consider the Agency’s internal procurement policies and processes to prepare invitation documents. Buyers may need to modify templates to incorporate social procurement content.
If so, buyers should seek guidance from the Agency's procurement or legal team.Please see Step 4: Decide how you will approach the market in Plan the procurement.
Consider:
- how social and/or sustainable objectives can be included in the procurement
Review Plan for social procurement. Align model clauses with the outcomes documented in the plan.
Social procurement model clauses for invitations to supply have been prepared to assist buyers.
For goods and services, clauses related to social procurement must be embedded into the:
- Invitation to Supply: Goods and services
- Invitation to Supply Part D Offer template: Goods and services
- Agreement (contract)
For construction, clauses related to social procurement and building equality policy have been embedded in approved standard form construction contracts
For procurements above $20 million, buyers need to include commitment targets for each selected objective.
Types of targets may include:
- Targets for supplier expenditure with social benefit suppliers (social enterprises, ADEs or Aboriginal businesses). Ask suppliers to demonstrate how they will meet targets.
- Targets for employment and training for Victorian priority jobseekers
- Labour hours performed by women
- Targets relating to recycled content or waste management.
Examples of targets to include in Request for Tenders include:
- 2% of project value to be spent with a social benefit supplier
- 3% of project labour hours undertaken by Victorian priority jobseekers
- a target indicating the amount of recycled content required to be used on a project.
When setting targets, buyers should consider two key factors:
- What is relevant to the procurement? (consider category, location, workforce characteristics)
- What is proportionate to the value and complexity of the procurement?
For longer-term contracts, there may be opportunities to incrementally increase social procurement commitments over time. The invitation documents need to consider how to encourage suppliers to propose stretch/growth targets.
Example: case study
$23 million technology reform project.
In this case study, the supplier is not designing an output that significantly contributes to emissions. This makes it difficult for a supplier to achieve climate change targets. A more proportionate target is to include recycled content in the supply chain. For example, the use of recycled toners.
Similarly, women are underrepresented in the technology sector. A 50% gender equality employment target may be unrealistic. A better target to increase female participation would be to look at a percentage increase of time. To increase by X% over a 1-to-2-year period.
It is important to identify targets that represent a commitment to improve/change for the supplier.
For procurements below $20 million, there may be less opportunity to set targets. However, buyers should set targets, or request that the supplier proposes targets in its offer, where appropriate. This should be considered in the social procurement opportunity analysis.
Determine evaluation weightings based on the outcomes documented in the evaluation plan, see Plan for social procurement, Step 5.
The Social Procurement Framework recommends that a minimum weighting of 5 to 10 percent be allocated to SPF related evaluation criteria, depending on the circumstances (including scale and complexity) of the individual procurement activity. For example, for procurement activities valued at over $20 million, a minimum 10 per cent weighting for SPF outcomes is appropriate.
For construction procurements above $20 million, the Building Equality Policy will need to be incorporated.
Buyers can choose to set evaluation criteria over 10 percent.
Examples:
- Social benefit supplier and employment targets
- Commitment to social benefit supplier spend target (5%)
- and
- Fair and inclusive employment targets (5% each)
- 5% + 5%= 10%
- Social benefit supplier, employment, business practices and Victorian Aboriginal people
- Commitment to social benefit supplier spend target (2.5%)
- and
- Employment target for a region experiencing entrenched disadvantage (2.5%)
- and
- Commitment to implement sustainable business practices (2.5%)
- and
- Employment of Victorian Aboriginal people (2.5%)
- 2.5% + 2.5% +2.5% + 2.5% =10%
- Social benefit supplier, employment and climate change
- Commitment to Victorian Aboriginal businesses spend target and social enterprise spend target (2.5% each, scored to a maximum of 5%)
- and
- Job readiness and employment for Victorian priority jobseekers by the supplier (2.5%)
- and
- Project-specific requirements to minimise greenhouse gas emissions (2.5%)
- 2.5% +2.5% + 2.5% + 2.5% = 10%
- Social benefit supplier and employment targets
Tools and support
For more information about social procurement, please contact Buying for Victoria.
Updated