Reuters reports EDP won CIS-backed contracts for major QLD/NSW projects, unlocking solar + battery investments.
READ MORELoading
Profile
Please Wait
New South Wales is turning SME policy into measurable outcomes. Recent reporting indicates government spend with small and medium enterprises is approaching A$10 billion a year—roughly a quarter of total procurement. The number matters less as a headline and more as evidence that the mechanics behind it—right-sized packaging, proportionate compliance, and active panel stewardship—are working in practice.
On the ground, SMEs are seeing cleaner approaches to market. Where a monolithic contract would have locked out smaller players, buyers are using lots to map work to discrete deliverables or staged delivery so capability can be proven on a defined slice before scaling. That yields contests a regional contractor or specialist services firm can credibly lead, instead of being forced to sit behind a prime by default.
Compliance asks are being calibrated to risk. Insurance thresholds and security requirements are still there, but they’re more consistently justified—what’s mandatory on day one versus what can step up as the contract grows. For leaner balance sheets, that reduces the number of bids lost on paperwork rather than capability. The same logic is showing up in payment terms and milestone design so cashflow isn’t a hidden barrier to participation.
Panels remain important in NSW but they’re being managed deliberately. Secondary competition, transparent call-off rules and refresh cycles are intended to keep value for money live rather than sliding toward incumbency. If you’re on a panel, expect to re-prove value each draw-down; if you’re not, watch for open approaches where panels aren’t the best fit or capacity needs to expand.
Evaluation practice mirrors these settings. Scorecards put visible weight on delivery certainty, local presence and regional participation alongside price. Bids that do well make mobilisation legible (who, where, when), present outcome-based case studies (time, cost, quality, safety), and show whole-of-life pricing that surfaces assumptions rather than burying them. Claims about “local knowledge” don’t carry as far as demonstrable arrangements that shorten response times and reduce delivery risk.
The post-award picture has also matured. Agencies are writing named KPIs and reporting cadence into contracts so the same artefacts that won the work—resource plans, risk logs, safety and privacy controls—become the backbone of delivery management. For SMEs with tidy operations, that visibility reads as lower risk and creates room to outperform larger competitors on execution discipline.
None of this eliminates competition, and price pressure hasn’t vanished. But the consistent direction—lotting, staging, proportionate compliance, and panel stewardship—has expanded the number of winnable lanes for smaller providers. That’s what the ~A$10 billion figure really signals: not just spend, but a system where SMEs can reach the start line with a fair shot and be judged on value, not volume.