NSW Aboriginal Procurement Policy (APP)

The target, and what it is a percentage of

The NSW 3% target counts the number of contracts, not their value. NSW also runs a separate 1% target measured by addressable spend. Getting these two the wrong way around is the most common error in NSW procurement guidance.

error_outline The 3% contract-count target applies to goods and services contracts. It does not extend to construction. For a building-materials supplier this is the single most consequential detail in the NSW policy: a materials contract counts toward the goods and services target, but construction works sit outside it.

Which businesses count

Ownership test: 50%

At least 50% Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander owned. NSW has not adopted the Commonwealth's strengthened 51% ownership-and-control test.

Where NSW buyers verify a supplier

• Supply Nation Accepted for verification of Aboriginal business status.
• NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce State-based Aboriginal business directory.

Thresholds that change how you can buy

Aboriginal participation requirement $7.5 million and above

Agencies must include a requirement for minimum 1.5% Aboriginal participation in contracts valued at $7.5 million or above. Participation can be met through Aboriginal employment or through supply from Aboriginal businesses, which is where a materials package can carry part of the obligation.

What this means when you order materials

Because the headline NSW target counts contracts rather than dollars, a series of smaller materials orders placed with an Aboriginal business moves the number more than one consolidated order of the same total value.

NSW is the jurisdiction where the count-versus-value distinction matters most, because it runs one of each: 3% by number of goods and services contracts, and 1% by addressable spend.

Birak is a Supply Nation Registered First Nations building products supplier. We supply structural timber, plywood and sheet products, treated pine and decking, cladding, boards and mouldings, and fixings and hardware Australia-wide, and every order arrives with the documentation your NSW reporting needs.

How NSW compares

Targets are not measured the same way across Australia. The denominator differs, and so does the ownership test.

info This page is a plain-language summary prepared by a supplier, not legal or procurement advice. Policies change. Always confirm the current figures against NSW Treasury, Aboriginal Procurement and the buying agency's own procurement rules before relying on them.