Industry Advocate Update – December 2019
It has been a big year. One thing that was particularly pleasing to see was the SA Productivity Commission’s (SAPC) Inquiry into State Procurement, acknowledged the South Australian Industry Participation Policy (SAIPP) is going to play a key role in supporting the Government’s Growth Strategy as well as an environment that encourages the growth of businesses in SA that are competitive locally as well as ‘match fit’ in interstate and overseas markets.
This aligns with one of the objectives in the Industry Advocate Act which is to increase the capability and capacity of businesses to compete in government contracts. Building on the success of our regular Supply to Gov workshops my office developed ‘Ready to Tender’, an online guide designed to help local businesses navigate the government procurement process. We should never lose sight of the fact that industry participation is about local jobs, local businesses and improving their chances to grow and diversify.
The Chief Entrepreneur and I have been promoting the need for Government procurement policies to be reviewed so as to support innovation and entrepreneurial businesses. Many other jurisdictions have recognised that the purchasing power of government has the potential to act as a catalyst for a more entrepreneurial business environment. We will be holding a Meet the Buyer event in 2020 that will have specific focus on introducing start-ups to Government buyers.
My office has been instrumental in streamlining the Industry Participation Plan (IPP) requirements and from early next year business will only need to provide high level IPP information, reducing the number of fields required in the online forms from 100 to 25.
The Aboriginal Economic Participation initiative, which is now incorporated into the State’s Industry Participation Policy, is starting to show real dividends with SA Aboriginal owned businesses winning $54.9 million worth of State Government work in the 2019 financial year.
