The promise of social procurement: leveraging purchasing power to create inclusive employment opportunities

Social procurement refers to the process through which public and private sector organisations use their purchasing power to generate positive social, economic and environmental benefit. Over the past three decades Australia has made substantial progress strengthening the links between public purchasing and social policy outcomes across diverse government portfolios. However, more work can still be done to leverage the power of public procurement to address labour market equity issues. In 2018–19, the federal government spent $64.5 billion procuring goods and services across 78,150 contracts. Given the magnitude of public procurement budgets, governments can leverage their significant purchasing power to tackle unemployment, which within the current context of [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 constitutes a significant policy issue. While the ongoing pandemic has resulted in unprecedented widespread job losses, those likely to be most impacted and left behind in any recovery efforts are people who were already dealing with significant labour market marginalisation prior to the crisis. Informed primarily by a review of academic literature and policy analysis, this paper explores the promise of social procurement to create inclusive employment opportunities for jobseekers experiencing disadvantage.

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