Photo- Hydro Tasmania and Bluegum Grounds Maintenance
Social procurement in Australia has hit a major milestone – businesses have spent $1.1 billion with certified social enterprises in the last seven years.
More organisations are now procuring for impact than ever before. Social Traders memberships among business and government are up by 11%, and the number of certified social enterprises has grown by 21%. Last year alone, 62% of businesses increased spending, generating $257 million in impact.
Here's what that spend delivers:
In FY24, over 20 organisations spent more than $1 million with certified social enterprises including ANZ, Westpac, Australia Post, Charter Hall, Lendlease, Mirvac, Victoria Police and Visy Industries.
ASX-listed infrastructure services provider Downer was named the FY24 Big Spender- spending $12.5 million with certified social enterprises last financial year. John Holland Group was acknowledged as having the most diverse suppliers – having spent with 65 certified social enterprises.
In the next 12 months, 76% of leaders expect their company’s investment in social impact initiatives to rise according to the 2025 Executive Corporate Social Responsibility Report. Social procurement is catching on among Australian businesses to unlock social value. Here are some of the trends we’re seeing.
In 2020, policy mandates like the Victorian Social Procurement Framework dominated the "why" behind membership with 54% members joining because of tender weighting or mandatory requirements. In 2024, that decreased to 42% and the number one reason businesses join Social Traders? Alignment with ESG and sustainability goals at 48%.
More and more businesses are embedding social procurement directly into their ESG strategies – because it delivers real, reportable outcomes.
Example: Nando’s and Cleanable
Nando’s is transforming restaurants with purpose. They recognised the potential of social procurement to fulfil their brand mission of ‘changing lives, together’. Nando’s forged a place-based partnership to not only enlist Cleanable, a certified social enterprise, for window cleaning and plant care services – but also create jobs for those facing barriers to work.
Impressed by Cleanable's performance, Nando’s broadened the partnership to also include plant sourcing for restaurant renovations and new constructions. That’s values-aligned impact in action while supporting the growth of social enterprise.
While property and infrastructure industries still play a big role, we're seeing banking & finance, consulting, education, transport, FMCG and energy industries starting to embed social procurement as standard practice. In fact, energy is the fastest-growing sector, with new members joining every year.
“Social procurement is no longer the domain of one sector. This is now a whole-of-economy opportunity.”- Tara Andeson, CEO Social Traders
Example: Hydro Tasmania and Bluegum
Hydro Tasmania- Australia’s clean energy leader- has partnered with Bluegum Grounds Maintenance since 2000. Bluegum supports people with disabilities by creating meaningful employment opportunities.
As the first energy company to join Social Traders, Hydro Tasmania has played a key role in Bluegum’s growth. Their long-term partnership has enabled Bluegum to expand its services from garden maintenance into broadacre grounds maintenance and horticulture. This growth has helped Bluegum secure additional contracts with other businesses as well.
Forget the old clichés - social procurement isn’t just catering or cleaning anymore. Businesses are getting creative and strategic about where they can embed social enterprise suppliers. We’re seeing different procurement categories emerge.
New high-growth categories for social procurement include:
Example: CGC and Fulton Hogan
Social enterprises are varied and broad in what they have to offer. Even civil engineering consulting has certified social enterprises. Enter Civil Geotechnical Consultants (CGC) a partner with Fulton Hogan on major infrastructure projects. In 2024, their partnership won the Game Changer Award for Queensland and Northern Territory.
With 50% of CGC’s profits reinvested into community programs, this multi-million-dollar collaboration has led to significant social investment and shows what’s possible when businesses break the mould.
There are over 700 certified social enterprises nationally and chances are, they offer exactly what your business needs.
Our members aren’t standing still. They’re increasing their spend, doing more activities, engaging with Social Traders and being connected with more certified social enterprises.
In FY24, we delivered:
Leading businesses are deepening relationships, expanding into new spend categories, and even building capacity among suppliers and tier-2 partners.
Example: Mirvac
Mirvac is a standout leader – embedding social procurement across its supply chain and investing in certified social enterprises. By helping social enterprises accelerate their capability and capacity, they can grow and service large businesses like Mirvac – creating more social value together.
Social Traders and Mirvac have partnered to deliver the Supplier Development Program, a finalist in the Business Services and Solutions Award category for the 2025 Banksia National Sustainability Awards.
In FY24:
Procurement is a powerful lever to deliver on social performance, that is generating social value alongside profit. While we’re seeing businesses embed social procurement into their operations, we need more organisations to make it business as usual. By unlocking more procurement opportunities for social enterprises, they will generate more revenue and deliver more impact.
Example: Project Net Zero (PNZ) and Westpac
This partnership supports Westpac’s sustainability and social procurement goals. And it’s helped PNZ to scale up.
With the security and pace of ongoing work, PNZ has expanded from de-fitting bank branches to managing sustainable decommissioning across commercial buildings and corporate sites. They’re now handling the reuse and responsible disposal of furniture and office assets at scale.
So far, the program is showing early indicators of strong impact:
We can help you deliver and report on your social performance.
Businesses have the power to go beyond financial outcomes. They can deliver social value at the same time through social enterprises.
With Social Traders, you’ll be able to: