The Queensland government will review its procurement policy and establish more pathways for small local firms and innovative suppliers through a $100 million small and family business push outlined on Tuesday.
The procurement reforms will be led by the newly formed Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business and supported by a dedicated adviser for small business procurement.
The goal is to simplify the state’s complex procurement systems and improve engagement by tweaking requirements and offering more support to small local suppliers. But spending targets will remain unchanged.
Other promised changes include following NSW in only requiring small suppliers to gain required insurances when/if awarded a state contract, simplifying pre-qualification requirements and offering more training and support on accessing tenders.
A new $1 million Small and Family Business Innovation Pathway will also be established to focus on short term engagements with government, and a push for the government’s larger suppliers to support local SMEs in their supply chain with procurement templates for faster payment times.
The current Small Medium Enterprise Procurement Target will be unchanged, however, with Queensland to continue aiming for 30 per cent of the state’s collective procurement spend from local SMEs.
The procurement changes are outlined in a Small and Family Business First Action Statement for the new government’s first term and associated new government investment of $100 million.
The statement also touts new business services, including a new concierge service, safety measures grants and apprentice support for certain sectors.
“Queensland is home to more than 495,000 small businesses, contributing $131 billion to our economy and employing over 1 million people, and the Action Statement forecasts the potential of more than 120,000 new Small and Family Businesses by 2032,” Minister for Small and Family Business Steve Minnikin said.
“The Crisafulli Government is committed to supporting small and family business rather than the previous Labor Government which saw too many small and family businesses working to support government.”
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.