A team from OneAdvanced joined over 300+ procurement and supply professionals as sponsors of the 12th Annual PASA Premier Confex in Melbourne from 16-17 October.
The event featured insights from public and private sector leaders on responsible procurement practices and a busy schedule of industry awards, networking and social events.
Attendees heard about how top Australian procurement teams are incorporating sustainability, fair labour practices, supplier diversity, and ethical sourcing into their strategies while navigating tougher compliance rules and experimenting with new AI and tech tools. An overarching theme was balancing responsible procurement with business growth and customer satisfaction amid ongoing economic uncertainty and global supply chain challenges.
Here’s our summary of some of the key sessions:
Day One
After a warm welcome from Lesley Wardropper, Managing Director, PASA, the Conference MC, Jonathan Dutton FCIPS opened the event by introducing the theme of responsible procurement. He posed a challenging question: How can procurement teams balance a range of competing aims while meeting growing stakeholder demands?
Dutton outlined the 7 key procurement goals:
- Ensuring reliable supply
- Managing risk in an unpredictable post-Covid world
- Maintaining value for money
- Meeting compliance requirements
- Addressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns
- Seizing commercial opportunities
- Achieving various other policy objectives.
His view of the “ideal procurement manager” in this context is one who:
- Builds resilient supply chains, which continues to be a particular challenge in Australian and NZ markets.
- Supports production or service delivery and also finds new commercial opportunities that advance business objectives.
- Fosters meaningful relationships that include all relevant stakeholders in the conversation and satisfy their concerns.
- Approaches procurement strategically, in alignment with broader corporate goals.
- Advances ESG objectives meaningfully, moving beyond token efforts to achieve real impact and results.
Dutton emphasised that today's procurement leaders need to balance these diverse priorities while delivering tangible outcomes, not just ticking boxes or crafting policies.
Striving for procurement excellence and fostering value creation
“Organisations can drive broader benefits for people, places and the planet by focusing on value creation through procurement excellence. To do this, it’s necessary to constantly enhance capabilities, processes, systems and supplier relationships.”
Teresa Scott, APCC
Teresa Scott, Executive Director of the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) conveyed an important message about the increasingly crucial role of procurement professionals, setting the tone for the many presentations and case studies that followed.
She explained that the peak body’s role is to provide leadership on public sector procurement and give procurement professionals a forum for collaboration.
“The substantial size of expenditure makes procurement professionals more important than ever,” Teresa said, and the context in which they operate is increasingly complex – marked by global financial uncertainties, a shortage of critical talent and rising level of governance compliance concerns.
Teresa encouraged attendees to continue to engage in professional development and strive for best practices to advance ethical and sustainable procurement practices for the future.
Cleanaway: Securing a sustainable future - How we built supply resilience in the waste industry
“Warren Buffett says risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. And so, the challenge of having resilience in your supply chain implies knowledge of your supply chain. Risking your supply chain comes from not enough about it.”
Ezra Clough, Cleanaway
Ezra Clough, Head of Procurement at Cleanaway, took the stage to share insights on Supply Chain Resilience.
As Australia's leading waste manager, Cleanaway's shift towards sustainability and circular practices is reshaping its supply chain – demanding new skills, technologies and partnerships.
To succeed, the business must engage deeply with its suppliers while serving as a key partner in its customers' supply chains, requiring the procurement team to navigate increased complexity and manage potential vulnerabilities.
“Times have changed,” he said. “We've discovered that we care what happens to our waste and we want to know that something good has happened to it – it's not waste, it's a resource.”
This shift in perception has created an opportunity for the waste industry, driving Cleanaway's ambitious goal to become "the most sustainable, the most innovative waste management company in the world".
Getting there, however, requires a resilient supply chain, which in Ezra's view is a matter of knowledge and transparency. He said, “You're all procurement professionals. You have influence over this. We need to think about our products and services (and their byproducts) at the design phase and procurement phase so that the end result can be as sustainable as possible.”
Cleanaway's approach involves a multi-step process which includes:
- Discovery: The supply chain is studied through stakeholder interviews and data analysis. Technology tools and AI can help here.
- Segmentation: Suppliers are categorised based on importance and risk.
- Mitigation: Strategies are implemented to diversify and localise suppliers; engage with strategic suppliers and build in the necessary redundancies.
- Repetition: The process is reviewed to track the delivery of objectives and for continuous improvement.
Ezra acknowledged that building supply chain resilience is hard and can be overwhelming. His advice for procurement professionals was to:
- Start in a small but meaningful way: Begin with achievable goals, such as understanding the supply chain of your top supplier.
- Focus on real change: Prioritise visible improvements over fancy reports.
- Embrace the journey: Recognise that building a resilient supply chain is an ongoing process.
Bolton Clarke: How the largest aged care provider in Australia works to deliver responsible procurement
“The business has tripled in size over the past three years. We've been faced with unprecedented supply chain challenges on the back of COVID, a battle for support from the Commonwealth amongst significant legislative change and, at the same time, commenced our sustainability journey to meet reporting obligations.”
Margaret Reid, Bolton Clarke
Bolton Clarke is Australia’s largest, independent, not-for-profit aged care provider with 88 residential aged care facilities, 38 retirement villages and over 130,000 community clients across the country.
Margaret Reid, the General manager of Strategic Procurement, spoke about the challenges of responsible procurement in the turbulent environment of legislative change, sector consolidation and business growth.
She explained that responsible procurement at Bolton Clarke revolves around providing quality care to residents and clients by ensuring value for money, making goods and services available when needed by frontline services and supporting the organisation's sustainability journey.
However, the company’s growth through acquisition and the requirement to serve such a broad range of stakeholders and categories – from hotel services and clinical supplies to allied health and enterprise spending – has presented its growing procurement team with a complex set of challenges.
Using a Procurement Maturity Model, Margaret illustrated how different acquired entities were at various stages of procurement maturity, from basic to advanced. The key challenges have been:
- Integrating diverse organisations with shared and different suppliers
- Minimising disruption to frontline care during integration
- Ensuring vendor onboarding processes meet changing compliance requirements
- Embedding sustainability and governance requirements
- Maintaining procurement maturity while expanding.
Some of the strategies for managing responsible procurement amidst this level of complexity and growth have included:
- Taking on contractual management of strategic suppliers
- Allowing acquired entities to access benefits and savings through the dedicated procurement team
- Aligning contracts where possible
- Leveraging buying power for immediate benefits in newly acquired businesses
- Prioritising tenders to support the most important business activities.
Margaret’s presentation emphasised the need for procurement teams to be agile, open-minded and able to pivot quickly in response to organisational changes and external pressures.
KPMG: Harnessing AI for smarter procurement and policy efficiency
"The easiest way to buy should be the most compliant way to buy. If it’s easy for someone to do something, they’ll do it. They’ll take the shortcut. By designing our processes with AI to make compliance the path of least resistance, we encourage adherence without friction.”
Robinson Nguyen, KPMG
In this session, Robinson Nguyen from KPMG explained why generative AI and large language Models are the perfect tools for policy compliance. He explored some practical ways AI is being used to simplify the procurement compliance process and create better procurement outcomes.
Robinson highlighted the growing maze of procurement policies and standards teams have to navigate, including industry-specific guidelines and an ever-expanding list of requirements:
- Organisational policies and procedures
- ESG and ethical sourcing requirements
- ISOs, Workplace Health and Safety and Fair Trade standards
- Regulatory requirements relating to the Modern Slavery, Privacy and Corporations Acts
- Cyber security and data privacy frameworks.
He posed the question: “How is it possible for procurement professionals and their teams to feel comfortable that they’re sourcing compliantly as procedures, policies, standards and regulations continue to explode in number?”
The answer may lie in AI and LLMs, which Robinson believes are set to revolutionise procurement compliance. “These models can ingest vast amounts of policies, including complex legal and regulatory frameworks, and interpret them against procurement documents,” he said. “The technology can analyse tender documents in real-time, for example, flagging compliance issues and areas needing attention.”
The potential impact is significant, helping both procurement professionals and other business stakeholders move forward with confidence, knowing they’ve ticked all the relevant regulatory boxes.
Despite initial reservations, KPMG has jumped on board with a Generative AI-scaled investment of $1 billion-plus. “KymChat” provides the firm with internal AI capabilities, while its clients can take advantage of their own secure, rapidly deployable AI platforms with appropriate data privacy guardrails.
Robinson gives the following example of how clients might use AI tools to ensure compliance with a high-value government tender:
“The AI analyses the evaluation criteria and flags missing elements. It alerts users to overlooked policies like the Social Procurement Framework and Local Jobs First, specifying required weightings and providing source links. This instant compliance check ensures both procurement professionals and stakeholders adhere to organisational and industry-specific policies, streamlining the sourcing process and reducing errors.”
AusNet: Progressing ESG into the strategic procurement mainstream
“Does the executive have visibility into our ESG program? Are they conscious of sustainability in their decision-making processes? If not, how can we change this? We need to understand our leaders and to use them.”
Catherine Predika, AusNet
AusNet's Manager – Governance and Sustainable Procurement, Catherine Predika discussed balancing the energy company’s ESG goals with business needs and involving stakeholders and executives in ESG programs. She explained how AusNet decides which ESG objectives to focus on first and sets up ways to measure and report progress, all while keeping commercial goals in mind.
One of AusNet’s strategic pillars is the transition to a net zero future, and Catherine explained how the business is deeply entrenched in mitigating and reporting on carbon impacts, managing broader environmental health risks, and expanding social procurement initiatives. Also, AusNet is now in the sixth year of its Modern Slavery Act compliance program.
Catherine outlined how, after the first compulsory reporting year under the 2024 Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) Act and Rules, AusNet completed a range of actions to uplift supply chain capabilities, including:
- Engagement with in-scope suppliers
- Contractual uplift for in-scope existing contracts
- Uplift to the standard contractual templates
- Sourcing events to reduce single supplier risk
- Development of a supplier SOCI questionnaire and supply chain incident reporting process.
With these achievements in place, the focus has turned to the 2024/25 SOCI program where new and additional scope will be explored and added.
Catherine believes that to make ESG-friendly procurement common practice, we need to focus on:
- Seeking executive/higher level visibility and support at the earliest stage in your program development. Align with wider organisation goals and priorities, including customers and communities and understand the impacts of non-compliance or inaction on your bottom line, your reputation and your customers.
- Understanding the non-negotiables and working from there. Consider your legislative requirements, the approach your peers are taking and your internal needs and ask what it is that you must do versus what can wait.
- Developing a structure and embedding it in the “Business As Usual”. Once you have the green light to move forward, establish your steering committees, frameworks, tools, reporting cadence and target audiences.
Responsible procurement at Melbourne Water
“2030-40 will be ‘the decade that matters’. By 2040, the water supply that now meets 100% of Melbourne's requirements will only meet 75% of our population requirements. That means that we've got to find new water sources or do things differently with water. Otherwise, we going to run out.” Karl Gill, Melbourne Water
Karl Gill highlighted Melbourne Water's unique procurement challenges as a government-owned service delivery business operating critical infrastructure. On a path to net-zero commitment by 2030, the business must satisfy both stakeholder demands and stringent regulatory requirements.
Karl defined responsible procurement as “the practice of acquiring goods and services in a way that not only meets organisational needs, but also delivers positive, environmental, social and ethical outcomes.”
To achieve this for its own part, the utility’s procurement team has extended its role beyond simple cost management into balancing environmental sustainability, community expectations and government mandate priorities.
As former Head of Procurement, Karl described his first task as “getting an executive mandate from the board”. He said he would otherwise have had an uphill battle implementing a range of responsible procurement initiatives.
“Without it, you're always going to be up against the risk team, the legal team, the operational team and the finance team, because it takes a lot of investment in people, resources and capability to pull these wins off,” he said.
With the support of Melbourne Water’s leadership in place, the procurement team has been able to secure the following wins:
- Creating dedicated Procurement ESG resources
- Introducing “partnership” into the procurement language
- Implementing a 3rd party risk management framework
- Championing an “owner mindset”
- Leading procurement advisory across the Victorian Water consortia
- Introducing new technology tools and data management processes.
To illustrate its approach to responsible procurement, Karl gave the example of a competitive tender for a $250 million natural resource management contract, during which Melbourne Water reduced its supplier base from 256 to a panel of 10.
Recognising the potential negative impact on long-standing small businesses and community relationships, the business implemented strategies to help affected suppliers transition. This included facilitating mergers and acquisitions and creating separate panels for disadvantaged groups and indigenous-owned organisations that didn't make the initial shortlist, allowing for a balance of efficiency with social responsibility and community engagement objectives.
Day Two
BHP: ESG and responsible procurement in practice
Natalie Mooney, Procurement Manager, Copper South Australia – BHP showcased BHP's evolution in responsible procurement, with a particular focus on its Copper South Australian Operations.
As one of Australia's leading companies, BHP's journey demonstrates how a major corporation can harness its procurement power to effect substantial positive change in both sustainability and local community prosperity.
She outlined BHP’s key decarbonisation goals and targets, particularly focusing on Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its value chain. This includes:
- A medium-term goal to support a 40% emission intensity reduction of BHP chartered shipping by CY2030.
- A medium-term goal to support industry in developing technologies and pathways capable of 30% emission intensity reduction in integrated steelmaking.
- A long-term goal of net zero Scope 3 GHG emissions by CY2050.
Natalie acknowledged that achieving these goals, especially the 2050 net zero target, is challenging and will need cooperation from their industry partners and customers.
This transformation is also particularly evident in BHP’s social procurement efforts and its engagement with indigenous and local businesses.
From struggling to achieve a modest $2 million spend target in FY21, BHP has dramatically scaled up its investment in FY24, spending more than $96 million with indigenous businesses and $280 million with local businesses in South Australia.
Across Australia, the company reported spending around $700 million with indigenous businesses and more than $3.3 billion with local businesses.
How AGL delivers responsible procurement
“Key success factors for responsible procurement include significant senior engagement, continuous training and development to stay updated with best practices and using procurement as a conduit between suppliers, internal teams, and external partners.”
Paul Holland, AGL
AGL operates Australia's largest electricity generation portfolio within the National Electricity Market of any ASX-listed company – supplying energy to around 25% of Australian households. Its portfolio includes coal and gas-fired generation, renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro and solar, batteries and storage assets.
Paul Holland, GM – Procurement and Property, AGL said its overarching strategy is “to help Australians decarbonise all aspects of how they live, travel, and work”, with a goal to add significant renewable generation and firming by the end of 2035.
The transition is challenging, as renewable generation is currently inconsistent and incapable of fully meeting needs. The need for change is urgent, however, as electrification initiatives progress rapidly and significant growth is projected in demand for electricity.
Paul believes the future lies in “flexible dispatchable capacity” where, in addition to solar and wind, a diverse set of energy assets will be used to achieve flexible portfolio capacity and meet overall energy needs.
AGL’s “Electrify Now” (a home electrification program) and the creation of new energy hubs are among the projects it has embarked on to make decarbonisation a reality. Admittedly, these projects often have high capital requirements and require a measured approach to marrying ESG and responsible procurement.
Paul believes the demands on procurement teams have grown dramatically, particularly regarding social and environmental impacts, and this shift requires them to develop new skills and expertise well beyond traditional purchasing roles.
Paul outlined two responsible procurement projects AGL has recently sponsored. Working with Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC), it has established a Manuka Tree Plantation in NSW that provides training, employment and an income stream for WNAC through the sale of medical-grade Manuka Honey.
Also, the “Second Chance for Change” Liddell Battery Project has a First Nations Procurement Lead working in the organisation to help identify and engage with Local and First Nations vendors to provide both local goods and a range of labour-related services.
Responsible procurement at Laminex
“Procurement at Laminex has a responsibility to enhance our cost-conscious culture to make better buying decisions.”
Peter Andriopoulos, Laminex
As Head of Procurement at Laminex, Peter Andriopoulos leads procurement strategy for one of Australia's most recognisable building products companies. "The company is a vital part of the Australian economy, employing over 1,300 people and working with more than 2,200 suppliers, many in local and remote communities," Peter explained.
Laminex's procurement operation is substantial, managing $550 million in external spend, with 70% of that being influenced spend. The business relies on more than 50 local buyers to service its nearly 23,000 customers across residential, commercial, and government sectors.
"Our procurement team's strength lies in its diversity," Peter said. "We create value through collaboration - working closely with customers, suppliers, and internal stakeholders." He emphasised that procurement at Laminex isn't isolated to one department but operates across its entire network, including local buyers, Fletcher Building Procurement and logistics teams.
However, according to Peter, today's procurement landscape is increasingly complex. Procurement professionals are juggling challenges that range from modern slavery concerns and First Nations procurement to sustainability goals, geopolitical risks and the emerging influence of AI. Add to this the pressures of market downturns, inflation and customer insolvencies, and the picture becomes even more complicated.
To address these challenges, Laminex has developed a comprehensive five-year Procurement Transformation Roadmap (FY24-FY28) that sets goals across key areas of culture, communication, capability development and supplier innovation.
"We're going back to basics," Peter explains, describing Laminex's Cost Optimisation Program - the latest phase in its responsible procurement journey. This initiative focuses on broadening local buyers' category experience while helping suppliers enhance their procurement capabilities.
Through these efforts, Peter and his team are working to strengthen Laminex's focus on cost savings and value while making more responsible buying decisions for the future.
How the Australian Government Department of Finance is encouraging responsible procurement
Richard Windeyer, Deputy Secretary, Commercial Group, Australian Government Department of Finance explained the key changes to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules along with some of the new initiatives supporting responsible public procurement in Australia. These include:
- Changes to support Small and Medium Enterprises: A new definition of “SMEs” and increased SME targets.
- Broader benefits to the Australian economy: Officials are required to consider the broader economic benefit to the Australian economy for projects valued above $1 million. This is reduced from the previous $4 million threshold.
- New requirements on contract reporting: Clarification on reporting thresholds at which all contracts and amendments must be reported on Aus Tender.
- Ministerial involvement in procurement: Ministers should not be involved in procurement processes nor direct officials undertaking procurement activities.
In addition, the government is extending procurement capabilities through the “Procurement and Contract Management Profession” which builds a professional workforce for the Australian Public Service by establishing professional networks and communities, supporting specialist career development, and collaborating with Australian and international organisations to share knowledge and best practices.
Metro Trains Melbourne: Bringing supply chain and ESG together in a post-COVID era
“The railway network and the natural environment co-exist at Metro. It's important we make environmentally responsible decisions that consider both current and future impacts to help and conserve the natural environment in which we operate.”
Darren O’Connor, Metro Trains Melbourne
Darren O’Connor, Head of Supply Chain, Metro Trains Melbourne discussed how embedding ESG into the organisation’s culture and reshaping the supply chain has led to identifiable benefits to the business and improvements for partners, stakeholders and the network’s broader community of users.
Metro Trains works collaboratively with the Victorian Government, and project delivery partners John Holland and UGL Rail to ensure that Melbournians can access a world-class rail system.
“The business spends around $12 million each week on infrastructure renewal and train technology maintenance to keep the network safe and improve service,” Darren reported.
Because public transport plays such a key part in achieving net zero emissions, Metro Trains is committed to further improving its operational sustainability performance and partnering with the Department of Transport and Planning on renewable energy greenhouse gas emission reduction opportunities and climate change reduction.
Darren explained that in common with many other organisations, COVID and geopolitical unrest have led to supply chain issues that continue to impact the business. Prices of steel have soared, global container costs have skyrocketed and unrest is making it difficult to access critical parts and supplies.
For these reasons, efficient use of resources and transitioning to a circular economy are key to ensuring the railway can operate sustainably for future generations. To guide its progress, Metro Trains is undertaking a 2024-25 Circular Railway Operations study to identify opportunities and commence the transition to a more circular approach in managing materials and waste. This will help reduce reliance on raw materials and increase the reuse and recycling of resources.
“We acknowledge that there’s still much progress to be made,” Darren said, referring to Metro Trains’ social procurement and First Nations strategies. “That’s why our Reconciliation Action Plan and its deliverables are so important to us. Metro's RAP is a strategic framework for supporting reconciliation. It focuses on employment and procurement opportunities, community partnerships and respect and recognition activities.”
QANTAS: Balancing supply-side challenges to deliver value
“Ensuring that suppliers can withstand economic shocks, pandemics, and natural disasters is a growing concern for procurement teams, demanding more robust risk management strategies.”
Jean-Michel Legrand, QANTAS
Airlines function in complex business and operational environments and are particularly vulnerable to supply chain challenges, according to Jean-Michel (Mike) Legrand, Head of Procurement, Aircraft Equipment and Maintenance Services, QANTAS.
The aircraft parts industry relies heavily on a few specialised suppliers. Components, such as engines, avionics and landing gear often have prolonged production cycles and the consequences of supply failures can be critical and far-reaching. Flight disruptions, passenger stranding, reputational damage and ongoing recovery costs are just some of the flow-on effects.
Adding to the complexity of supply is a range of factors like cost volatility, stringent regulatory and environmental compliance requirements, workforce shortages and unrest in areas where airlines operate.
“The cost of raw materials like aluminium, titanium and fuel is subject to market fluctuations, which can increase manufacturing and operational costs,” Mike pointed out, “and since aviation supply chains are global, currency volatility can impact procurement costs and profit margins.”
Mike explained how QANTAS's Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) program works to guide its procurement activities by following a clear set of practices:
- Collaborate for success. Foster open communication and problem-solving to enhance market responsiveness.
- Manage risk. Undertake proactive risk identification to promote resilience during disruptions.
- Drive innovation. Leverage supplier expertise and engage in joint development for mutual benefit.
- Align goals. Create a shared vision and objectives to drive improved efficiency and customer service.
- Tailor the approach. Segment suppliers based on strategic value and adjust engagement strategies accordingly.
- Monitor performance. Use KPIs to assess relationship health and undertake regular reviews for continuous improvement.
2024 Award Winners
An important part of PASA’s annual event are the awards presented in different categories to acknowledge procurement excellence. In 2024 the winners were:
The Most Improved Procurement Team Award
SEEK – for a range of improvements and initiatives in responsible procurement. Team: Mariano Buela CPO, Daphne Bakos, Category Manager – Indirects and Professional Services, Drew Thomsen, Senior Manager – Category Management, Rachel McConville, Sustainability Manager.
Other finalists in the category were Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) and Port of Auckland.
The Best Procurement Project Award – Public Sector
TAFE NSW – for supporting a strong and locally connected TAFE NSW and successfully engaging with local suppliers. Team: Kate Scott – Enterprise Contract Improvement Manager, Procurement.
Other finalists in this category were Mornington Peninsula Shire, SA Health, TasNetworks, The Salvation Army and South Metropolitan Health Service.
OneAdvanced is a proud sponsor of PASA
The PASA 2024 Premier Confex highlighted how procurement's role has evolved beyond cost control and how procurement teams now drive strategic value – from supplier selection to advancing ESG goals and responsible business practices.
At OneAdvanced we support organisations with spend and supplier management solutions that help achieve these strategic objectives.
Want to learn more? Our report Future-Focused Procurement: The Rise of ESG, shares insights from 600+ procurement professionals across Australia and New Zealand on using technology to meet sustainability challenges. Download your copy here.