Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026)
The Australian Government's Indigenous Procurement Policy as reissued in May 2026: eligibility of Indigenous enterprises (51 per cent owned and controlled or ORIC registered from 1 July 2026, with a transition year) and the duty to verify and document it, Portfolio volume and value targets rising from 3 to 4 per cent with their counting and IPPRS reporting rules, the Mandatory Set Aside for remote procurements and 80,000 to 200,000 dollar procurements, and the Mandatory Minimum Indigenous Participation Requirements for contracts of 7.5 million dollars or more in nineteen industry sectors, from approach to market and tender evaluation through contract management, quarterly supplier reporting and final assessment, plus the reporting and responsibility tables for Portfolios and suppliers.
Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) is a compliance framework from Australia (Commonwealth) with 5 domains and 20 controls. The largest domains are Section 4 Mandatory Minimum Indigenous Participation Requirements for high value contracts – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) (10 controls), Section 2 Annual targets for purchasing from Indigenous enterprises – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) (3 controls), Section 3 Mandatory Set Aside of certain Commonwealth contracts – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) (3 controls). Every control below carries what it requires and what an assessor expects to see.
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Framework Domains (5)
Section 1 Introduction: objective, policy elements, application, eligibility of Indigenous enterprises and joint ventures – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::1.8 | Verify Indigenous enterprise status: rely on the Indigenous Business Register, Supply Nation's Indigenous Business Direct or the ORIC register, and where a business is on none of them document the steps taken to confirm it meets the definition (statutory declaration, certificates or letters of Indigeneity from a recognised Indigenous organisation, chamber of commerce listings); when using CPR Exemption 16 also confirm the enterprise is an SME |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::1.9 | Incorporated Indigenous joint ventures: during 2026-27 the venture must be listed on Indigenous Business Direct or the new Indigenous Business Register, meet the 50 per cent or the 51 per cent ownership and control test, and demonstrate strategies to grow its Indigenous workforce and the capability of the Indigenous partner |
Section 2 Annual targets for purchasing from Indigenous enterprises – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::2.1 | Portfolio targets: a volume and a value target of 3 per cent of eligible procurements in 2025-26 rising by 0.25 per cent a year to 4 per cent in 2029-30, set annually by the NIAA with each Portfolio from AusTender data over the previous three full financial years, with CPR 2.6 contracts excluded from the volume base and Division 2 exemptions (other than Exemption 16), CPR 2.6, coordinated procurements, restricted market codes and agreed extraordinary expenditure excluded from the value base |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::2.4 | Counting toward targets: direct contracts and purchases with Indigenous enterprises, related subcontracts, multi-year contracts (counted for volume in every year revenue flows and for value in the year executed, with variations counted when they occur) and official orders under panels including coordinated and cooperative arrangements; anything not on AusTender or reported by a supplier through the IPPRS is reported to the NIAA by the Portfolio |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::2.5 | Report against targets in the IPPRS: ensure MMR suppliers report quarterly through the IPPRS; manually report subcontracts not tied to MMR, contracts and purchases under 10,000 dollars including card purchases, prescribed corporate entity contracts under the 7.5 million construction or 400,000 dollar thresholds, contracts with Indigenous enterprises not on Supply Nation or ORIC, and corporate entity contracts, by the NIAA's annual deadline (about 42 days after year end) |
Section 3 Mandatory Set Aside of certain Commonwealth contracts – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::3.1 | Mandatory Set Aside scope: apply the MSA to every remote procurement and to every other procurement wholly delivered in Australia estimated between 80,000 and 200,000 dollars (GST inclusive), except CPR 2.6 and 10.3 procurements, mandated coordinated procurement arrangements, Appendix A exemptions other than Exemption 16, and credit card transactions for remote procurement; determine remoteness by where the majority of value is delivered on the NIAA map |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::3.3 | Apply the MSA before any other process, including before buying from a non-coordinated panel: search Supply Nation's directory for suitable Indigenous SMEs; where one is found test value for money under the CPRs and, if satisfied, buy from it (using Exemption 16 above the threshold), assessing several candidates proportionately and offering the contract down the value for money ranking if the best declines; where none is found document the search, consider Exemption 17 and proceed by ordinary process |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::3.4 | MSA reporting: every six months report to the NIAA through the IPPRS the remote procurements the Portfolio conducted and the remote contracts awarded to Indigenous SMEs; the NIAA publishes the share of 80,000 to 200,000 dollar AusTender contracts awarded to Indigenous enterprises |
Section 4 Mandatory Minimum Indigenous Participation Requirements for high value contracts – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.1 | MMR in tendering: tenderers must set out how the targets will be met in an Indigenous Participation Plan, state whether they have been subject to MMR targets before and declare current Indigenous employment and supplier use; the entity must consider each plan and the tenderer's past MMR performance held in the IPPRS and document those considerations in the tender assessment |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.2 | MMR application: include Mandatory Minimum Indigenous Participation Requirements in the approach to market for every procurement wholly delivered in Australia valued at 7.5 million dollars or more (GST inclusive) where more than half the value falls in the Appendix B industry categories (eight from 1 July 2016, nineteen from 1 July 2020), including procurements from panels and coordinated or cooperative arrangements; excluded are CPR 2.6 contracts, the Appendix B sub-category exemptions and contracts delivered wholly or partly overseas, where voluntary application and IPPRS reporting are encouraged |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.3 | Varied contracts: a Portfolio may negotiate the MMR into a varied contract where the variation lifts total value to 7.5 million dollars or more, more than half the value is in the specified sectors and the variation offers real opportunity for Indigenous participation in the remainder, applying from the variation date; not where the contract is nearly complete or the burden outweighs the outcome; only by mutual agreement with no penalty for refusal, and reported in the IPPRS as a voluntary MMR |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.4 | MMR targets (Table 1): the supplier, with the entity, elects a contract-level target of 4 per cent Indigenous employment (average FTE of the Australian-based workforce on the project) or 4 per cent of contract value to Indigenous enterprises or a combination totalling 4 per cent, or an organisation-level target of 3 per cent employment or 3 per cent of the Australian supply chain or a combination totalling 3 per cent, all by the end of the contract term, met directly or through subcontracts |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.5 | Remote components: where any part of an MMR contract is delivered in remote Australia the entity must contract for significant Indigenous employment or supplier use in that area above the minimum targets, for example by subcontracting Indigenous enterprises or setting a minimum employment share (such as 20 per cent) for the remote work, set with regard to the local labour market and Indigenous business sector, the scale and location of the contract, available supply-side support and existing government targets |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.6.1 | Approach to market: specify whether any component is delivered in a remote area and require tenderers to declare their compliance with past MMR contracts and to submit an Indigenous Participation Plan covering how the MMR will be met, current Indigenous employment and supplier use rates, their commitment to Indigenous participation and how significant outcomes will be delivered in any remote area; new panel deeds must state that the MMR applies to procurements from the panel |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.6.2 | Tender evaluation and panel orders: consider past MMR compliance from the IPPRS, the proposed Indigenous Participation Plan and, for remote components, the ability to achieve significant outcomes; when ordering from a panel where the order meets the MMR criteria, require the panel member's Indigenous Participation Plan and past compliance details and consider them in the evaluation, awarding only to suppliers with the capacity to meet the MMR |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.6.4 | Contract management: the contract manager ensures compliance with the Indigenous Participation Plan and MMR targets through the term, establishing, monitoring and assessing the supplier's quarterly IPPRS progress reports and running assurance over their accuracy; targets may be varied only consistently with the policy (still summing to 4 or 3 per cent and significant for remote components), through a contract variation, a revised agreed plan and an IPPRS update |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.6.5 | Supplier reporting: suppliers report quarterly through the IPPRS within the days allowed (up to 60 for quarterly performance reports, 14 for organisation-level supply chain reports) giving total and Indigenous workforce hours, from which FTE is calculated, and each Indigenous subcontract or purchase with ABN, enterprise name, value, date, description and whether direct or through the supply chain; the entity ensures reports arrive on time and reviews everything provided; the NIAA publishes the names of suppliers holding MMR contracts |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::4.6.6 | Final assessment: at contract end the contract manager records in the IPPRS an assessment of the supplier's final performance against the MMR targets, which becomes available to every future Commonwealth evaluation panel considering that supplier |
Sections 5 and 6 Reporting requirements and agency, Portfolio and supplier responsibilities – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::5 | Portfolio reporting obligations: upload to the IPPRS at least twice a year AusTender contracts awarded to enterprises not registered with Supply Nation or ORIC, all other contracts and purchases not reportable on AusTender, and all subcontracts not reported by suppliers; report remote procurements every six months; for each MMR contract enter the target details, reporting days, start date, supplier contacts, the contract manager's acknowledgement of each quarterly report and comments on the final report |
| australia-indigenous-procurement-policy-may-2026::6 | Portfolio responsibilities: comply with the IPP across the Portfolio; make sure procuring officials and contract managers know their obligations, tenderers are told the requirements and MMR targets are negotiated into contracts in line with the policy intent; monitor the IPPRS so contracts matched from AusTender are correctly classified including any MMR exemption applied; ensure contract managers manage supplier MMR performance through the IPPRS; and ensure supplier MMR reporting is accurate and complete |
What is Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) and who does it apply to?
Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) is a compliance framework from Australia (Commonwealth) with 5 domains and 20 controls. The Australian Government's Indigenous Procurement Policy as reissued in May 2026: eligibility of Indigenous enterprises (51 per cent owned and controlled or ORIC registered from 1 July 2026, with a transition year) and the duty to verify and document it, Portfolio volume and value targets rising from 3 to 4 per cent with their counting and IPPRS reporting rules, the Mandatory Set Aside for remote procurements and 80,000 to 200,000 dollar procurements, and the Mandatory Minimum Indigenous Participation Requirements for contracts of 7.5 million dollars or more in nineteen industry sectors, from approach to market and tender evaluation through contract management, quarterly supplier reporting and final assessment, plus the reporting and responsibility tables for Portfolios and suppliers. It is used by organisations to establish and maintain compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
What does Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) actually require?
Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) has 20 controls organised across 5 domains. The largest domains are Section 4 Mandatory Minimum Indigenous Participation Requirements for high value contracts – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) (10 controls), Section 2 Annual targets for purchasing from Indigenous enterprises – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) (3 controls), Section 3 Mandatory Set Aside of certain Commonwealth contracts – Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) (3 controls). Each control defines specific requirements that organisations must implement to achieve compliance.
If I already comply with another framework, how much of Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) do I already cover?
Australia Indigenous Procurement Policy (May 2026) does not currently have cross-framework mappings in our system. Check back as we continuously expand our mapping database.
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