This University of Technology Sydney case study follows how Indigenous builder Barpa grew from a $50,000 first job with backing from construction company Icon. It shares the key lessons for buyers who want to help Indigenous businesses scale up.

This two-part special report looks at how Sydney Metro ran its social procurement program. As at January 2024, about 48% of jobs on its projects under construction had gone to people from Greater Western Sydney, with $321 million invested in Aboriginal participation and 4,163 previously long-term unemployed people engaged.

On Sydney's Rozelle Interchange, the John Holland CPB Contractors joint venture required every commercial tender to include an Aboriginal subcontractor. This University of Technology Sydney best-practice case study looks at how the project approached its 1.5% Aboriginal spend commitment under the NSW Aboriginal Participation in Construction policy.

Indigenous-owned Alice Springs business Hardy Fencing built a snake-proof fence at the Kaltukatjara (Docker River) aged care facility, working for prime contractor Intract Australia. The project shows how subcontracting to local Indigenous businesses can deliver practical results for remote communities.

Former AFL player Michael Johnson's traffic management business Kany Bidi has grown alongside Laing O'Rourke across six major projects in Perth, with contracts now worth $14.5 million. The business averages 65% or more Aboriginal employment and delivered over 40,000 hours of traffic management on the Swan River Crossings Project.

After an introduction through Social Traders, SAP Australia became a customer of Goodwill Wine, a social enterprise that donates 50% of its profits to charity. The story shares SAP's lessons on building purpose into everyday corporate purchasing.

The NSW Department of Communities and Justice buys courier and cleaning services from Flourish Australia across 36 sites. In 2023 the $2.9 million spend created $860,000 in economic value and employed 18 people facing barriers to work, showing government buyers can secure quality services and social impact together.

Since 2016, environmental consultancy Natura Pacific has worked with three Queensland prisons on native seed conservation for the Yarrabilba community. More than 7 million seeds from 136 species have been preserved and over 43,000 plants grown for 54 locations, creating training and work for people in custody.

Australia Post engaged Blend Creative, a disability-inclusive social enterprise, to work on its Accessibility and Inclusion Plan. The project gave eight staff with disability 96 hours of training and showed how values-aligned procurement can deliver quality creative work.

Since 2022, Hanson has bought native plants from Nugal Biik Plants and Seeds, a social enterprise nursery run by Whittlesea Community Connections, to revegetate its Wollert Resource Park in Victoria. The first year targeted more than 10,000 plants, supporting local jobs and biodiversity together.

Since 2018, Nando's has sent its retired IT equipment to PonyUp for Good, a social enterprise that refurbishes technology and gives half its profits to food rescue charity SecondBite. The work has diverted more than 600,000 kg of e-waste and funded over one million meals.

Nando's ANZ uses social procurement to live its organisational values, buying window cleaning and plant care from Cleanable in Victoria and services from Green Connect in New South Wales. Both social enterprises create jobs for people facing barriers to work.

A January 2024 introduction through Social Traders connected Heidelberg Materials with textile recycling social enterprise RCYCL. A 48-site pilot diverted 6,766 kg of textile and PPE waste from landfill, and the partnership now covers more than 430 sites nationally.

Construction company Icon worked with social enterprise Assembled Threads to supply hi-vis vests made from recycled materials, and shifted a PPE contract to social suppliers. The partnership was named a 2023 National Social Procurement Trailblazer in the Social Traders Game Changer Awards.

Since 2021, Yarra Trams has engaged Travellers Aid to support people with mobility challenges on Melbourne's tram network during major events and service disruptions. By 2023, Travellers Aid had supported 9,671 people, making public transport more accessible for everyone.

Lendlease partnered with social enterprise Meals with Impact to open Australia's first social impact kiosk. Women from refugee and migrant backgrounds prepare culturally inspired meals at a Lendlease site, combining paid work, training and inclusion.

A commercial arrangement between CPB Contractors and CareerSeekers has grown into a workforce inclusion partnership for people from refugee backgrounds. Since 2018, 148 internships for 79 participants have led to 57 permanent jobs, a 72% conversion rate, with $500,000 invested.

Since mid-2021, Ventia has bought spatial design work for its nbn projects from Australian Spatial Analytics (ASA), a not-for-profit social enterprise that trains and employs young people with autism. The work grew from as-built drawings into other design tasks, and ASA won the 2022 Queensland and NT regional Social Traders Game Changer Award.

Video on Mirvac's first Supplier Development Program with Social Traders, which built the capability of social enterprises including YMCA ReBuild, ReGround, CommUnity Construction and Green Connect. The program led to five new contracts and 50% growth in certified social enterprise suppliers.

Video on the award-winning partnership between construction company Icon and social enterprise Assembled Threads, which supplies hi-vis vests made from recycled materials. The partnership was named a 2023 National Social Procurement Trailblazer in the Social Traders Game Changer Awards.

Two Good Co's own video on how it supports women who have experienced family violence and homelessness to rebuild their lives through work. It pairs with the written case study on Two Good's partnership with Charter Hall.

Mirvac contracts Mates on the Move, a social enterprise employing people leaving the corrections system, to collect problem waste from 19 of its Sydney office buildings. About 695 tonnes have been diverted from landfill since 2017, and the contract helped Mates on the Move grow to more than 100 buildings.

A 2021 tender for washroom soap grew into a partnership worth over $1 million a year between Charter Hall and Two Good Co, a social enterprise supporting women leaving family violence and homelessness. Two Good now supplies close to 20,000 litres of washroom products a year to Charter Hall buildings.

What started as a small traffic management job in 2014 has grown into a multi-million-dollar partnership between Downer and social enterprise GAME Traffic & Contracting in north-east Victoria. Downer spent $5.8 million with GAME in 2024, helping fund programs that have supported 2,000 young people.

The Level Crossing Removal Project bought plants and landscaping for the Mernda Rail Extension from Yarra View Nursery, a social enterprise run by disability service provider Knoxbrooke. The partnership shows how landscaping on major infrastructure can create meaningful work for people with disability.

Spark, the consortium building the North East Link tunnels, is connecting Aboriginal jobseekers and businesses with work on one of Victoria's largest road projects. The story shows how a major contractor can open pathways into construction careers and supply chains for First Nations people.

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation engaged disability-inclusive social enterprise All Things Equal to run a food and beverage outlet at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Twelve trainees worked on award wages and served about 3,000 customers. The partnership began with office catering in late 2024.

Since 2008, drainage and underground services social enterprise KADYN has worked with John Holland on more than 17 rail and infrastructure projects across Sydney, including Sydney Airport and the Botany Rail Duplication. In the last six years it has supported 50 at-risk young people into construction careers.

SPA’s report on how Australian governments are putting social procurement into practice, drawing on interviews with three State government departments. It includes case studies of the NSW Aboriginal Participation in Construction policy, SA’s Department for Communities & Social Inclusion, and WA’s Australian Disability Enterprise exemption, plus five local economic development snapshots from Queensland, Victoria, SA and the Gold Coast.