Procurement statistics released by the Department of Finance reveal a $5.4 billion increase in the value of Commonwealth contracts going to small and medium business enterprises (SMEs).
In a statement, the Department said the statistics revealed that in the 2020-21 financial year, SMEs were awarded 45,773 or 54 per cent of contracts with a total value of $18.7 billion, the highest level on record and the highest annual increase for SMEs, up from $13.6 billion in 2019-20.
Minister for Finance, Simon Birmingham said the Government continued to back SME participation in Commonwealth procurements and continued to exceed its targets in regard to the proportion of contracts going to SMEs.
“Small and medium businesses continue to punch well above their weight in the highly-competitive Government procurement market,” Senator Birmingham said.
“SMEs are the engine room of our economy and this strong performance is further demonstration of the huge economic and jobs contribution they make,” he said.
Senator Birmingham said while small and medium businesses had done it tough during the pandemic, “this strong SME performance is a shining light and a testament to the quality of the goods and services they continue to produce and deliver”.
“Enhancing opportunities for small businesses to bid for and win work will be critical to our ongoing economic recovery and as our nation continues to open up,” he said.
Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert said that a series of changes to the Commonwealth procurement framework had helped to put more small businesses in the mix for Government procurement.
“We’ve done this by changing the rules to allow for the direct engagement of SMEs for procurements valued up to $200,000, where the engagement provides a value-for-money outcome,” Mr Robert said.
