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What is Sustainable Procurement?

Procurement that has the most positive environmental, social and economic impacts possible over the entire life cycle – ISO 20400 – Sustainable Procurement Guideline (2017).

Buying sustainably is about understanding that every purchasing decision Western Power makes has an impact on the employment, economic and social outcomes for the state of Western Australia.  We pride ourselves on aligning with four key principles underpinning the development of our Sustainable Procurement Standard:

  1. Avoid unnecessary consumption and manage demand
  2. Minimise environmental impacts over the life of the goods/services
  3. Foster a viable market by supporting socially responsible suppliers that adopt ethical practices and demonstrate innovation
  4. Ensure fair and ethical procurement processes are applied

We work with regulatory influences on sustainability that are nationally recognised. These focus on areas such as:

Aboriginal Procurement

We are committed to working with Aboriginal owned businesses by supporting the Western Australian State Government’s Aboriginal Procurement Policy. 

This policy sets targets for the number of contracts to award to registered Aboriginal businesses each year whilst seeking to develop entrepreneurship and business opportunities for the Aboriginal community.

An Aboriginal business is any organisation or entity that is owned or run by an Aboriginal interest, including not-for profit organisations. An Aboriginal business must be registered through the Aboriginal Business Directory Western Australia or Supply Nation’s Indigenous Business Direct.

Visit Contracting with the Western Australian Government - A Guide for Aboriginal Businesses for further information.

WA Jobs Act & WA Industry Participation Strategy

Western Australian Jobs Act (2017) and the Western Australian Industry Participation Strategy (WAIPS) aims to maximise opportunities for local business to supply to Western Power by ensuring contracting decisions are linked to economic and social benefits such as job creation and retention, training and apprenticeships.

WAIPS requires Western Power’s prospective suppliers to complete and submit a participation plan as part of their tender bid for contracts above relevant thresholds. Where a participation plan is included in a contract, Western Power suppliers will be required to report on the participation plan achievements during the life of the contract.

Further details about WAIPS, participation plans and frequently asked questions are available on the IndustryLink website. 

WA Buy Local Policy

Western Power is operating under the State Government’s WA Buy Local Policy (2022) which ensures Western Australian Government procurement enhances local industry participation, especially for small and medium sized enterprises. Western Power is committed to providing full, fair and reasonable opportunity to WA based businesses. The policy has a range of initiatives and price preferences that provide regionally based businesses with an enhanced opportunity when bidding for supply to Western Power.

If you want to discuss how Western Power is implementing the WA Buy Local Policy, please contact our Regional Procurement Officer, Michael Vincent.

Modern Slavery Act

Modern slavery describes situations where offenders use coercion, threats or deception to exploit victims and undermine their freedom. Practices that constitute modern slavery can include human trafficking, slavery, servitude, forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and the worst forms of child labour. More information can be found through the excellent resources published by Walk Free.

The Modern Slavery Act (2018) came into force on 1 January 2019. The Act established national modern slavery reporting that supports the Australian business community to identify and address their modern slavery risks.

Western Power’s annual statements, published by the Australian Border Force, are available here:

We have been working on a range of activities to improve our assessment of risks and our collaboration with our suppliers to address where our operations or procurement practices may contribute to, or perpetuate, human rights issues both here in Australia and abroad.

  • In conjunction with the Energy Procurement Supply Association (EPSA), a not-for-profit association made up of energy industry procurement and supply professionals, we published the Respecting Human Rights in our supply chains whitepaper which discusses how we assess modern slavery risks.
  • We have published our Ethical Supply Chains guide that outlines our expectations in operating in an ethical and transparent manner and provides practical advice towards improving the mitigation of modern slavery risks.
  • As part of the Human Rights Resource and Energy Collaborative group, Western Power was proud to assist in the development of the Modern Slavery Response and Remedy Framework. It provides practical guidance to assist companies with their response to modern slavery in their supply chains or operations including guidance on remediation.

We will continue to seek assistance from our suppliers on how human rights can be practically managed within our supply chains. Western Power will from time-to-time request information from our suppliers on the actions they are taking to address modern slavery risks to maintain responsible and transparent supply chains.

If you’d like to report to us suspected wrongdoing in this area, please contact Western Power through our Contact us page or through our independent and confidential hotline 1300 304 550 (STOPLine).

For more information on these areas and our expectations of our suppliers are outlined in our Supplier Code of Conduct.