Jobs
Quality local jobs
Leverage procurement power to back local suppliers and stimulate jobs growth, skills development and manufacturing
Putting Queenslanders first
From a small purchase to a major project, we aim to use procurement investment to support genuine, quality, local jobs and businesses employing a local workforce. By increasing local employment, money remains in the local community. Local enterprise income is returned to local owners, and reinvested locally. It upskills Queenslanders and provides Queensland manufacturing opportunities.
Keeping procurement local is important to us; we will continue to drive the use of procurement to invest locally to the greatest practicable extent, and will take a local benefits approach to all procurement.
Strong foundations
Building on the strong foundations set by Buy Queensland in 2017, we will continue to use our procurement to:
- create genuine, quality, secure ongoing jobs for Queenslanders, build regional Queensland, reduce long-term and youth unemployment, and increase apprentice and trainee opportunities
- enhance local workforce participation (including apprentices and trainees) in significant Queensland Government infrastructure projects worth $100 million and above, wherever possible
- apply Buy Queensland first by prioritising food and beverages made, grown or produced in Queensland, identifying potential suppliers using the Queensland Government Food and Beverage Supplier Directory
- apply the best practice principles to projects worth $100 million and above, and declared projects.
In 2021-22, the value of contracts awarded through QTenders, with suppliers who have a Queensland presence, rose to 93 per cent, up from 85 per cent in 2016-17.
Taking it to the next level
Through Buy Queensland 2023, we will:
- adopt a local benefits approach to all procurement, and simplify and sharpen the focus of our Local Benefits Test to support local workforces
- consolidate Local Benefits Test and Queensland Charter for Local Content requirements, streamlining requirements for suppliers.
Investing more in the local community
We will apply a local benefits approach to all procurement.
For routine procurement, we will invite at least one local supplier to respond to every quote or tender, except where the goods or services are not able to be supplied by a local supplier. We will document our reasons if a local supplier is not invited.
For significant procurement, we will apply a streamlined Local Benefits Test with a focus on supporting the local workforce, and apply a local benefits weighting of between 10 to 30 per cent in evaluations. We will document our reasons if the test is not applied.
Case study: Munster Services Group
Munster Services Group is a great example of putting Queenslanders first and the Buy Queensland procurement approach by directly contributing to the creation of quality local jobs, buying through local businesses wherever possible, and supporting the local community when supplying directly to Queensland Government.
Based in Logan, the company helps maintain Queensland’s water and wastewater infrastructure, and services heavy industries. It is Queensland owned and operated, with a workforce of more than 100 full-time permanent employees across all ages, skills, and backgrounds, and is actively supporting women into trades and engineering.