The first part of the project developed social procurement guidelines for Victorian local governments and was released by the Victorian Government in October 2010.
The second part is a national report – Social Procurement in Australia – which examines how governments, corporations and NFPs can use their purchasing power and procurement processes to generate positive social impacts in addition to acquiring quality goods, services and works.
The report identifies a number of key areas which require further dialogue and discussion including agreement about the definition of social procurement, exploration of the ‘social benefit supplier’ concept, and the growth of a community of practice around social procurement, in addition to others.
The research project was a joint initiative of Social Traders, the Centre for Social Impact, Department of Planning and Community Development Victoria, Brisbane City Council, Parramatta City Council and Foresters Community Finance.