Raising Standards

Laing O’Rourke has released its first dedicated Indigenous Procurement Policy today to create opportunities and build sustainable relationships with Indigenous businesses and communities.

As one of the first major construction companies to develop a Reconciliation Action Plan, Laing O'Rourke has a long and proud history of supporting Indigenous communities.

Laing O’Rourke’s Head of Procurement Jackie Aggett said the new Indigenous Procurement Policy was developed to help boost the capabilities of Indigenous businesses in the construction sector.

“This policy sets a new standard for engaging with our Indigenous supply chain and delivery partners,” Ms Aggett said.

“It includes a new minimum target spend (of the total value of goods and services procured) for all projects, regardless of the client requirements, starting at 1.5 percent this year and stretching to 4 percent in the long term.”

In 2016 the Australian Government made a number of changes to its Indigenous Procurement Policy, which requires all Commonwealth and State Government construction contracts to meet mandatory minimum requirements for Indigenous employment and sub-contractor engagement.

“I am proud to say Laing O’Rourke will go even further than the Government’s new requirements to ensure we are engaging with local Indigenous businesses on every project across the country,” Ms Aggett added.

Laing O’Rourke is also a sponsor of Supply Nation Connect 2017 – Australia’s largest supplier diversity Knowledge Forum, Indigenous Business Tradeshow and Gala Awards Dinner being held in Sydney next month.

Supply Nation’s CEO Laura Berry congratulated Laing O’Rourke on the launch of the new Indigenous Procurement Policy.

“This is a very tangible demonstration of leadership from an organisation that recognises supplier diversity means changing procurement behaviours,” Ms Barry said.

“As we've seen from other policies, targets do change behaviours, so we're looking forward to seeing the benefits the implementation of this policy drives for Indigenous-owned businesses."

Laing O’Rourke’s Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Indigenous Affairs Jacqueline Minney said the policy will be incorporated into Laing O'Rourke's new Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, to be released in coming weeks.

“Our involvement on large scale projects located in or close to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities give us a unique opportunity to make a significant contribution to help close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people,” Ms Minney said.

For any Indigenous businesses not registered to supply chain networks, Laing O’Rourke has established a ‘project’ on ICN Gateway listing the organtisation’s most frequent work packages.

For more information or to register your interest please follow the link.

Download Laing O'Rourke's Indigenous Procurement Policy.