ICNWA is aware of four government mechanisms aimed at encouraging projects to increase their use of local suppliers. These are:  

1.      Australian Industry Participation National Framework  (Australian)

2.      Enhanced Project By-law Scheme  (Australian)

3.      Building Local Industry Policy (Western Australian)

4.      Buy Local Policy (Western Australian)

The Australian Industry Participation National Framework was signed by Australian, State and Territory Industry Ministers in April 2001. The Framework encourages Australian, State and Territory governments to adopt a consistent, national approach to maximising Australian industry participation in investment projects, in Australia and overseas. In general this goal has been achieved with States and Territories adopting much of the terminology and definitions set out in the Framework.

The Australian Government’s Enhanced Project By-law Scheme (EPBS) provides concessions from tariff duty on eligible goods for inclusion in projects, where expenditure on capital goods for the project is $10 million or more. Applicants must produce an approved Australian Industry Participation Plan under which they provide Australian suppliers with full, fair and reasonable opportunity to participate in major projects. A concession under the EPBS is only available for eligible goods that are not produced in Australia in the ordinary course of business; or technologically more advanced, more efficient or more productive than goods currently available from Australian production. The EPBS uses a “carrot” of reduced import duty to obtain increased effort from projects to investigate the competitiveness of Australian industry. This often leads to projects discovering Australian suppliers that are globally competitive and can provide the goods and services the project needs. EPBS continues to generate numerous benefits to Australian industry. 

The Buy Local Policy is a Western Australian (WA) State Government Policy. The Policy requires WA Government agencies to design requests for quotation or tender to reflect local business capability and to recognise “local content” in bid evaluations. To achieve this, all requests for tender with an estimated contract price of $750,000 and above must include a “local content” selection criterion with a minimum weighting of 20%. The Policy provides for government agencies, when comparing bids, to apply a 20% price impost to the portion of a bid that comprises a good, service or items that have been sourced from overseas, excluding New Zealand. The Policy also includes provisions for regional content preferences. Understanding how this Policy operates is important if you are a tenderer for WA Government goods or services.  

Launched in April 2004, the Western Australian Government’s Building Local Industry Policy  is a clear and unequivocal statement that local businesses have a legitimate expectation that they will be given a full, fair and reasonable opportunity to be considered for major work and contracts being undertaken in Western Australia in both the pubic and private sector.  The Policy requires Industry Participation Plans to be prepared for:

• all Government-funded projects or contracts with a total value in excess of $20 million or where the value of capital equipment exceeds $1million.
• all private sector projects where the Government makes a significant contribution;
• all projects which intend utilising the Enhanced Project By-Law Scheme.

The Policy encourages developers of projects outside of the above criteria to also prepare an Industry Participation Plan where a significant opportunity for Western Australian participation has been identified. Although three years old the Policy still has low recognition with many private and government projects that full within its scope.