Hot Topic

Procurement Australasia Ltd CEO Joe Arena answers our burning questions from our latest Hot Topic : Government tenders.

How did Procurement Australasia Ltd evolve?

We began as MAPS Group in 1985, when the City of Melbourne established a buying group for 14 Melbourne municipal councils. MAPS Group started trading as Procurement Australia in the mid-2000s.

Since 1985, we have successfully expanded our market to include other government authorities, not-for-profit entities and the private sector. This was helped in 2015 when the Victorian Government accepted a change to our Articles of Association, which opened the door to work with the private sector.

Today, Procurement Australasia Ltd is one of Australia's most innovative and successful procurement organisations. We are a leader in negotiating and facilitating contracts for a range of clients. As a non-listed public company, we have 84 shareholders who are mostly local governments, water authorities and cemetery trusts.

Why the name change?

The group's name changed to Procurement Australasia Ltd in March 2018 to reflect the fact that it now encompasses three brands operating under one banner Australia-wide. They are:

• the original Procurement Australia, which was established by government for government in Victoria more than 30 years ago
• Church Resources, a specialist aggregator in the not-for-profit sector that began in 1995 as the publisher of CathNews and expanded into telephony, IT, food service, travel and stationery
• Space Station, a business established in 2018 to offer large and small organisations co-working opportunities through up-to-the-minute flexible office space in Melbourne and Sydney.

The 2017 purchase of Church Resources broadened our membership by 22,000 and encompassed its specialisation of providing aggregated buying solutions to Australia's not-for-profit organisations.

How can businesses become your suppliers?

Procurement Australasia's suppliers respond to a publicly advertised formal tendering process. They are evaluated against specific criteria established for the tender. As a matter of interest, Procurement Australia is a prescribed entity in Victoria and NSW.

What are the benefits of registering at Tenderlink?

Tenderlink is one of many tender management and advisory platforms. It's an efficient way for firms to be notified of all tenders issued that match their notification parameters, including geographic regions. This alleviates the need to trawl through multiple national press outlets.

If suppliers register with Tenderlink, they'll be notified of any tenders issued that match their prescribed parameters. It's therefore vital for suppliers keen to work with Procurement Australasia to register with Tenderlink.

How would you advise businesses considering tendering for government business or entering the government project supply chain?

There are three main comments I'd make. First, understand that the government process is more formal, longer and usually more complicated due to many compliance aspects.

Second, the use of 'vendor panels' rather than one specific vendor is standard. This means that business is not always guaranteed, even if you successfully gain a position on a 'vendor panel'.
Finally, reporting and compliance requirements can be more burdensome.

How does Procurement Australasia help businesses on that journey?

It offers a range of advisory consultancy services in a variety of areas, both general and specific in nature.

Are you working in the social procurement space?

Last year we began digitising our Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Ethical Sourcing work, with a key focus on compliance with the Modern Slavery Act. We ran an education program for our Members and others and have since developed a web based SCM tool and Ethical Sourcing app. This established us as a leader in sustainable and ethical procurement.

We can now support our Members and others on the sustainable/ethical path through these great tools. They enable management, monitoring and engagement with suppliers on all sustainable/ethical measures including governance, fair operating practices, human rights, consumer issues (including indigenous business channels), labour, community, environment and climate risk.

How do you see the future of procurement?

As the procurement function in Australia matures, more organisations will aggregate their category spend to achieve greater value through lower costs and better service. Using an aggregator allows organisations to achieve greater value through reducing internal costs and total life cycle costing.

Internal procurement functions will be leaner and more focused on providing a higher level of strategic outcomes, including things like managing and mitigating risk, managing supplier performance and, of course, managing internal demand.