The value of goods and services supplied by indigenous suppliers in Queensland rose by 36% – or A$118m – in the last financial year, according to the state government.
Craig Crawford, minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships, said nearly 150 First Nations enterprises did business with the Queensland government for the first time in the last financial year.
A total of 535 indigenous suppliers fulfilled state contracts worth a total of A$440m in 2020-2021.
The Queensland Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Procurement Policy (QIPP) was set up in 2017 to create a level playing field for indigenous-owned businesses and help them negotiate government procurement.
“We want to make sure that every eligible Queensland business has the opportunity to work with government, and we know there are many First Nations businesses who have the capacity to successfully supply goods and services our state needs,” said Crawford.
“That is why the QIPP exists, to make sure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses not only have the opportunity and the know-how to go through the procurement process, but can share that knowledge with other First Nations businesses.”
Noteworthy contracts included the procurement of more than A$50m worth of Covid-19 rapid antigen tests from two separate aboriginal and Torres Strait islander-owned businesses.
In April this year, Western Australia said that it had procured nearly A$500m in goods, services and work contracts in three years of its aboriginal procurement policy, with 209 indigenous suppliers having fulfilled 697 contracts in that time.
The state government said it had awarded 6.5% of its contracts to aboriginal businesses in 2021-2022 – more than double the 3% target for that year.
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