Highlight achievements

Highlights and achievements

Achievements since the launch of the Social Procurement Framework

Victorian Government departments and agencies have invested heavily in Victoria’s social benefit suppliers since 2018:

• $84.1 million spent on 350 purchase agreements with verified Victorian Aboriginal businesses and other organisations
• $31.8 million spent on 213 purchase agreements with certified Victorian Social Enterprises.

Achievements in this reporting period (1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021)

Victorian Government departments and agencies achieved:

• $21.2 million spent with 129 verified Victorian Aboriginal businesses and other Aboriginal organisations
• $10.4 million spent with 64 certified social enterprises, of this, $7.2 million was spent with 18 certified social enterprises with a mission for people experiencing disadvantage
• $5.57 million spent with 34 Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) or social enterprises led by a mission for people with disability. (Note: Figures for Australian Disability Enterprises and social enterprises led by a mission for people with disability are a subset of the total spend and engagement figures for social enterprises.)

How this compares with the inaugural Whole of Victorian Government Social Procurement Framework Annual Report 2018-19

Despite the unprecedented circumstances brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, significant increases have been made in comparison to the strong benchmarks set in the inaugural annual report:

• a 37 per cent increase in business engagements and 27 per cent increase in expenditure with Victorian Aboriginal businesses and other Aboriginal organisations
• despite a nine per cent decrease in business engagements this year, there was a 42 per cent increase in expenditure with certified social enterprises.

A focus on improved outcomes

Each year we seek to increase not only the uptake of social procurement as ‘business as usual’ across all Victorian Government agencies, but also the quality and richness of reporting on social procurement achievements.

Embedding a policy initiative as business as usual requires a strategic approach and development of a strong network, where both government buyers and suppliers understand how to operate within the framework and how to achieve successful outcomes from their procurement activities.

Transfer of existing responsibilities

As part of a strategic approach to improving Social Procurement Framework outcomes, on 1 January 2021, responsibilities for government buyers, including measurement and reporting, transferred from the Department of Treasury and Finance to the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. This consolidated the support responsibilities for both government buyers and suppliers within a single department.

New responsibilities - Victoria's recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic

With the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, social procurement now plays a significant role in Victoria’s economic recovery. To maximise the social benefits of significant government procurement activities, there is now an increased focus on creating employment and training opportunities for two cohorts who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic: women and young people.

To support this initiative, a Social Procurement Assurance Team has been mobilised within the Department of Treasury and Finance to work with government procurement and contract management teams on procurement activities valued over $20 million.

The team is tasked with supporting government buyers to embed social procurement within their activities, prioritising these required outcomes. The team will monitor the social procurement commitments made by suppliers, and their achievements against those commitments.

Embedding the Framework in the culture of the procurement community

The Victorian Government has been working hard to embed the Framework into the hearts and minds of all Victorian Government procurers. The government has also sought to ignite the passion for social procurement within existing and aspiring government and non-government procurers alike.

Skilled and trained procurement professionals can play a significant role in creating social and environmental value through the adoption of targeted strategies and by supporting the development of diverse suppliers within their supply chains. Signifying the increasing importance of the Framework, providers of higher education are now seeking to inform students about this initiative.

This year, the University of Melbourne and Swinburne University of Technology separately approached the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, to find innovative ways to incorporate information regarding the Social Procurement Framework within their procurement training syllabuses.

With social procurement taught as a foundation principle, the future is looking bright for the procurement sector and more broadly for Victorian communities.

We welcome other educational institutions seeking to incorporate social procurement into their training syllabus to contact the Social Procurement and Enterprise Branch, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions for assistance and advice.

The Social Procurement Framework has provided a huge impetus for the construction and infrastructure sector to drive significant social impact outcomes. At Fulton Hogan the framework aligns with our values and our community purpose and our people have embraced the opportunity to engage with social enterprises in our operations.

Strengthening and extending our support networks

Having a strong support network for government buyers and suppliers is core to the success of the Framework.

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions has agreements with the following support network partners:

Kinaway Chamber of Commerce

Kinaway Chamber of Commerce provide business support and advice to Victorian Aboriginal business people and help improve the visibility and networks of Aboriginal businesses to strengthen relationships and create opportunity. Kinaway publish a list of certified Victorian Aboriginal businesses, as well as provide departments and Victoria Police with support services to assist in identifying opportunities for engagement with Victorian Aboriginal businesses.

Social Traders

Social Traders certify, build capability and connect social enterprises with business and government members. By activating the power of social enterprise procurement, Social Traders creates positive impact through jobs, community services and support for the most marginalised. Social Traders provides a portal of certified social enterprises with rich search functionality for all Victorian Government departments and agencies, as well as connection for social enterprises to the Vendor Panel procurement portal.

Jobsbank

Jobsbank is focussed on making inclusive employment and social procurement work for business. Jobsbank has a unique role in the Victorian ecosystem, building capability among employers and enabling them to participate in the opportunities created by government’s unprecedented levels of investment in infrastructure, job creation and service expansion.

Industry Capability Network

Industry Capability Network (ICN) is a network of independent experienced industry procurement and supply chain specialists who introduce businesses large and small to projects across Australia and New Zealand. ICN’s Social Procurement Program consists of developing system capability to capture Social Procurement Framework commitments and achievements through the Victorian Management Centre platform. The platform is supported by the provision of dedicated industry advisors, training, e-learning modules, guides, and toolkits.

Measuring and reporting achievements

Measuring and reporting on outcomes is essential in successful policy implementation. It provides the basis for understanding the policy areas that have been embedded well and the areas that require further nurturing.

Since 2018, measurement and reporting has been informed by:

• the provision of direct spend data by departments and Victoria Police
• case studies of social procurement achievement from all eligible entities
• social procurement achievement data from our major project delivery agencies.

This year, a significant milestone and advance in our reporting capability was achieved.

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions,in conjunction with the Department of Treasury and Finance and the Industry Capability Network, released a Social Procurement Framework reporting solution on the Victorian Management Centre platform.

The Victorian Management Centre allows government buyers to record procurements that include social procurement commitments* and suppliers to report their achievements against those commitments. This will assist both government buyers and suppliers to meet their Framework reporting obligations and provide a richer understanding of the achievements made the government entities eligible to report under the Framework. (* Note: Social procurement commitments are made by a bidder, as set out in their Social Procurement Commitment Proposal, to improve their performance in relation to delivering a Social Procurement Framework Outcome.)

Despite the relatively short period of time the Victorian Management Centre Social Procurement Framework reporting module has been in operation, the following outcomes have been recorded:

• a total of 265 Victorian Government contracts added to Victorian Management Centre; of this, 119 were Social Procurement Framework related.
• $3 billion worth of Victorian Government contracts added to Victorian Management Centre; of this, $1.9 billion Social Procurement Framework related.

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions will work with all eligible Victorian Government entities to ready them for reporting for the 2021-22 financial year. The Industry Capability Network provides monthly training and dedicated industry advisors for both government buyers and suppliers to support the effective use of the Victorian Management Centre.

It is anticipated that all 275+ eligible entities will have the ability to report to the Victorian Management Centre in 2021-22. This will enable social procurement baselines to be set, driving incremental improvements to both social procurement outcomes and the way we measure and report on those outcomes.

With a broader adoption by eligible entities in the future, the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions will look to the Victorian Management Centre as a potential conduit between employment commitments and employment opportunities for Victorians experiencing disadvantage.

For more information see the Victorian Management Centre or phone 03 9864 6700.