Procurement and facilities

One of the key contributions that government can make to the development and sustainability of a vibrant social enterprise sector is to leverage its procurement spending and its facilities portfolio.

The Centre for Social Impact is currently undertaking a project in conjunction with Forester’s Community Finance and PCC to develop an Australian ‘case’ for social procurement. Social procurement is developing as a sophisticated practice overseas but activity remains fledgling in Australia. Development of the ‘case’ will include review of overseas practice and exploration of emerging activity in Australia. Anecdotally it is evident that interest in this is growing and that the key barrier at this stage of development is the lack of concise and locally relevant material to draw on.

PCC has also organised for a senior representative of the Development Trusts Association  to visit Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in September/October 2009 to raise awareness and understanding of community asset transfer processes and benefits. Community asset transfer is well-established and recognised in the UK, and is an important approach for both incubating and sustaining social enterprises.