Social procurement: creating employment opportunities through purchasing expenditure

How can public and private sector organisations use their purchasing power to create positive social impact?

At a glance

Just as individual Australians can make a difference to our social and economic development of communities, so to can governments and other organisations.

‘Social procurement’ is a way for governments and businesses to use their everyday spending to generate a positive impact. This can mean buying goods and services from social enterprises, Aboriginal businesses, Australian disability enterprises and suppliers that assist people who find it hard to get a job. It can also mean providing job opportunities for people who would otherwise struggle to get a foothold into work.

This literature review is focused on how public and private sector organisations can do just that.

Dive Deeper

This working paper explores the concept of social procurement, highlighting the objectives, opportunities and challenges of social procurement initiatives in both the public and private sectors.

Australian and international case studies illustrate how organisations have successfully used their purchasing and contracting decisions to achieve value for money while simultaneously generating social value, by creating jobs for marginalised jobseekers or addressing place-based economic disadvantage.