Principle 4: Boost government procurement from small businesses
Action 1: Promote awareness of NSW Government contracts, tendering tools and resources
Each year, the NSW Government spends over $9 billion on goods and services from 46,000 small and medium businesses.9 The Charter reflects and complements the NSW Government’s commitments to support and increase the number of small businesses selling to the NSW Government, to drive income growth and small business confidence. Significant work has taken place in the first year of the Charter across NSW Government procurement policy, process, training and capability.
The whole-of-government platform for procurement, buy NSW, is a centralised place for businesses to find opportunities across all government Agencies, and for government buyers to find appropriate businesses.
Transport is working with the Industry Capability Network (ICN), a network of industry procurement and supply chain specialists who introduce businesses to projects throughout Australia and New Zealand, to map and better understand the rolling stock manufacturing supply chain across NSW and give the industry, including small businesses, more visibility of the forward pipeline.
Transport is also engaging industry and across government to understand industry and workforce development support that may be needed to improve capability and capacity of local manufacturers, including small businesses, to deliver the NSW Government’s commitments. This includes work with TAFE NSW on new courses to build a pipeline of apprentices to support delivery, and the Office of National Rail Industry Coordination on the National Rail Manufacturing and Procurement Strategy. This work also includes introducing a including a 50 percent local content target for rolling stock contracts for Tangara replacements by 2027, subject to further investment decisions.
Destination NSW
Transport’s place-based advisory groups in Dubbo, the Hunter region, and the Blue Mountains – with a new group planned for Western Sydney in 2025 – are helping small businesses access NSW Government procurement opportunities. The groups bring together NSW and local government agencies, industry stakeholders, and business support services, to raise awareness of government contracts and supply chain opportunities beyond Transport’s projects.
Each advisory group tailors its approach to the unique needs of its region, ensuring local small businesses can access opportunities, develop their capabilities, and successfully supply goods and services to NSW infrastructure projects. The advisory group in Dubbo supported head contractors to engage around 60 Dubbo based businesses in the build of the Mindyarra Maintenance Centre, leaving a legacy of skills and capability uplift in the local industry.
Transport has also supported NSW Government ‘Gather & Grow’ events, led by NSW Treasury, and run ‘Meet the Buyer’ events and capability-building (tender-ready) workshops in collaboration with Yarpa, which provides business support services, NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce and Supply Nation. Across all this work Transport aims to simplify procurement, increase supplier visibility, and facilitate introductions to Transport’s panels and pre-registration schemes.
Last year, Transport was awarded ‘Government Member of the Year 2024’ at Supply Nation’s Annual ‘Connect’ Conference and Tradeshow, and also delivered a pilot Supplier Relationship Management program, as part of Transport’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) deliverables, with plans to continue the program in 2025.
NSW Health is a critical supporter of small businesses through the department’s procurement spend. In the financial year 2023-24, NSW Health had a spend of over $600 million with small businesses. NSW Health has arrangements in place with the ICN for regional and local suppliers for infrastructure developments. ICN helps NSW Health ensure that local subcontractors and suppliers are afforded full opportunity to participate in hospital construction projects. Small businesses are encouraged to be part of ICN to participate in hospital build projects.
Action 2: Make it easier for small businesses to supply goods and services to NSW Government Agencies
In 2024, the Procurement Board mandated that all businesses with government contracts above $150,000 must be registered on buy NSW. This mandate improves reporting and transparency for sellers and buyers and has seen an additional 6,000 new businesses registered to sell on the platform over 2024.10 In May 2025, there were over 51,000 small businesses (with a fulltime equivalent workforce of up to and including 19 employees) registered for faster payments with the NSW Government (2 May 2025, buy NSW).
The NSW Procurement Board also mandated reforms to purchasing goods and services from small businesses through raising the threshold for directly negotiating with and engaging any small business from $150,000 to $250,000, and no longer requiring insurances on submission for tenders.
Over the past year, the Bureau has actively worked to boost procurement from small businesses by providing targeted support, resources, and initiatives in partnership with NSW Procurement and buy NSW. Key achievements include the development of tailored support for the Bureau’s Business Concierges to guide small businesses through registering on buy NSW and a training package for frontline staff to boost their knowledge about government procurement and help businesses navigate processes and find resources more effectively.
Destination NSW
The Business Connect procurement specialists continue to provide tailored business advice for small businesses interested in selling to government, over 700 customers received 870 hours of specialist support in 2024.
The Bureau website now offers self-serve information and resources for businesses, including links to the buy NSW, Small Business Commission and NSW Procurement resources.
The NSW Government is also committed to supporting Aboriginal businesses, many of which are small businesses. The Aboriginal Procurement Policy (APP) commits to allocating 1% of NSW Government procurement spend and 3% of goods and services contracts to Aboriginal businesses. In 2023-24 the NSW Government spent $391.1 million with Aboriginal Businesses and issued 678 goods and services contracts, exceeding its targets by 344 per cent. By September 2024, over 1,280 Aboriginal businesses were registered on buy NSW.11
NSW Treasury and NSW Procurement, as one activity within a broad program of support, have supported Aboriginal businesses through ‘Gather and Grow’ events across the State. These sessions unite NSW Government buyers, Aboriginal businesses, industry, non-Aboriginal businesses, support services, and prospective job seekers, to foster the growth of Aboriginal businesses.
Transport has been investing to support Aboriginal-owned businesses, social enterprises and small businesses into the procurement pipeline. Activities include regular consultation with social suppliers and small businesses to understand their capabilities and challenges; online events to increase visibility of suppliers; and facilitating supplier introductions across the broader Transport procurement portfolio, including projects such as Sydney Metro. Transport also advertises open market tenders on a range of platforms such as Supply Nation, NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce, Social Traders, and BuyAbility member portals, ensuring more awareness of opportunities across the small business sector.
Filling the gap: Support for Aboriginal businesses
NSW is the only state or territory in Australia that has Closing the Gap Priority Reform Five, a dedicated commitment to deliver Aboriginal Economic Prosperity. To deliver on this commitment, the NSW Government has implemented a wide range of measures for the Aboriginal business Sector, as detailed in the Closing the Gap 2022-24 Implementation Plan.
The measures feature the NSW Roadmap for Aboriginal Business Growth, with funding of $10 million to achieve the aims under the Roadmap, including:
- Conducting Business Roundtables for Aboriginal businesses and start-ups on how to access capital and grow their businesses, and how to access export opportunities.
- Appointing an Aboriginal Business Taskforce to advise government on matters relating to Aboriginal business growth.
- providing support to the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce to support Aboriginal women and businesses in regional NSW.
The results of these initiatives are evident in the incredible success of the Aboriginal business sector in NSW.
Aboriginal Affairs NSW
Transport has also responded to small businesses' challenges in accessing supply chain opportunities. In response, Transport has simplified procurement processes which is increasing market participation and fostering a more diverse and competitive industry.
To support local businesses, Transport partnered with head contractors to deliver business support initiatives, including tender writing workshops that help small businesses navigate prequalification requirements. First introduced as part of the Regional Rail Mindyarra Maintenance Centre project, these workshops attracted 54 businesses, with 35% successfully securing a contract.
As part of this project, Transport also developed a Business Support Catalogue and a series of videos guiding small businesses through the tendering process. The catalogue also provides information on programs and grants to help businesses build their capabilities and access funding to expand their operations and services.
The Bureau has also been instrumental in responding to regional needs, particularly in the Northern Rivers, where rebuilding efforts continue following the 2022 floods. In collaboration with the Reconstruction Authority, the Bureau is supporting small and medium-sized construction businesses to connect to specialist procurement advisors. This support includes a ‘one front door’ triage for government assistance, enhanced web content for self-service, and Business Concierge support.
Concrete growth: Awe Crete & Sons, Bogangar, Tweed Shire
Awe Crete & Sons Pty Ltd, a family-owned business in Northern NSW, was founded by husband-and-wife duo Antoni and Franzine. Combining Antoni’s trade expertise with the tailored business support they received from the Bureau’s Business Connect specialist advisory service, they have turned their dream into a thriving concreting company providing services for residential, industrial, and commercial projects.
Business Connect advisors helped them sharpen their value proposition, revamp their website with a glossy project gallery and testimonials, improve social media engagement, and crucially, find customers. Antoni and Franzine also worked with Business Connect procurement specialists to prepare for tender submissions, ensuring they were compliant to government expectations.
Their efforts paid off. They attracted new clients and secured a contract for concrete works at an NSW Government research facility.
Action 3: Increase tender weightings for small business, local content, jobs creation and ethical supply chains.
In 2024, to further enhance opportunities for small businesses, the NSW Government committed to establish the Jobs First Commission to support local industry, businesses and job creation through procurement. A new Local Content Policy will implement a minimum 30% weighting to NSW Government tenders that captures local content, job creation, small business and ethical supply chains.
References
9NSW Government eases procurement rules for small business, 6 November 2023 https://www.smallbusiness.nsw.gov.au/news-podcasts/news/nsw-government-eases-procurement-rules-for-small-business
10Department of Customer Service Annual Report 2023-2024, December 2024 https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/noindex/2024-12/Department-of-Customer-Service-Annual-Report-2023-2024.pdf Page 62
11Aboriginal Procurement Policy Review 2023https://info.buy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/1204678/Aboriginal-Procurement-Policy-Review-2023.pdf
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