Page 53 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2022

JULY-AUGUST 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
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calculated and educated risk to provide somebody with an opportunity.”
Mifsud also encourages the decision makers in Defence to utilise the exemption rules which apply to the IPP guide- lines – namely, Exemption 16 which allows government de- partments to sole source to SMEs with at least 50 per cent Indigenous ownership.
“Exemption 16 allows a delegate to negotiate directly with an Indigenous business, without having to go to market,” he explained. “We still need to demonstrate value for money, but can negotiate and sole source an outcome, which is what Beca are doing with us.
“Whereas what we typically see from the Department of De- fence directly, when they’re dealing with Indigenous business- es, is that they make those Indigenous businesses compete for the work, sometimes even competing against other Indigenous businesses, which is just costing them a lot of money.”
For Beca, procuring from iDiC also means investing in sustainable communities for the future. Supply Nations re- search has shown that for every $1 spent with Indigenous businesses there is a $4.41 social return, driving change for the wider community.
“The partnership is very much about looking at how iDiC can support us to make meaningful change, both in terms of the client delivery, but also the ongoing upskilling and professionalisation of Indigenous workforce as well, de- livering outcomes that shape Australian communities in a positive way,” Barter said.
“I think, like a lot of industries at the moment, it’s very hard to find good people, and organic growth can be very difficult. It’s then probably further compounded in defence industry by the increased spend by Defence and other re- lated asset intensive industries. So, iDiC provide a fantas- tic capability internally for us and my long-term vision is iDiC being a long-standing and enduring trusted partner at Beca, being a preferred supplier across all our professional services, and for our procurement and supply chain activi- ties as well.” ■
ABOVE: Kerrie Howard, Strategic Partnerships Manager iDiC and Cameron Menzies, General Manager, Clients and Markets at Beca at a recent Reconciliation Morning Tea in Melbourne
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