Photo: AusChin

In May, we hosted a series of industry forums - bringing together leaders from construction, property, and tertiary education to explore the challenges, successes and opportunities of social procurement in practice.

We learned how social procurement is gaining momentum, but how clear policy, supplier support, and internal advocacy are critical to scale impact.

Construction & infrastructure

Sector trends:

• Price vs value – Buyers recognise the unique value social enterprises offer but have to weigh impact against commercial risk.

• Capacity & risk – Concerns remain around the long-term viability of some social enterprises. While many want to invest in supplier development, the risk of collapse or non-compliance (e.g. EBAs) is real.

• Policy as a catalyst – Leaders are calling for stronger, more consistent policy frameworks to better define ‘value for money’, consistent targets, and stronger government support.

• State-by-state growth – Victoria leads in maturity, but other states need frameworks similar to Victoria’s Social Procurement Framework, policy and supplier readiness to catch up.

Property & facilities

Sector trends:

• Building internal champions – Teams are creating knowledge hubs and using real-world case studies to build internal buy-in and drive momentum.

• Client-set targets – Embedding targets into contracts and linking them to KPIs drives accountability and impact.

• Tier 2 influence – Organisations are piloting templates and encouraging Tier 2s to build supplier diversity into their own supply chains.

• Operational champions – Frontline staff such as contract managers, facilities managers and other support roles are crucial enablers. Empowered and informed teams create opportunities.

• Storytelling sells impact – Real stories backed by data help build the business case for change and inspire organisation change.

Tertiary education

Sector trends:

• Leadership drives change – Senior leadership support helps align procurement with ESG and social impact goals.

• Growing targets – Many institutions are adopting 3%+ social and Indigenous procurement targets. Some have already achieved significant spend.

• Policy in progress – Universities are updating procurement policies to include social and ethical criteria with new frameworks, scorecards and set-asides emerging.

• Barriers to navigate – Decentralised procurement models, budget constraints, and limited oversight on low-value spend remain common challenges.

• Collaboration builds momentum – Institutions are working together on shared tools, training and frameworks to fast-track progress.

What’s next?

Across all industries, one thing is clear: social procurement is evolving from a nice-to-have to a business imperative.

Our industry forums turn insights into action and are available exclusively to Game Changer, Trailblazer and Leader members.