ABL First Nations Procurement List and Questionnaire
In 2022, the AISN Procurement Working Group gathered data on Arnold Bloch Leibler’s procurement procedures and policies, and the procurement policies of other professional services firms, to properly understand them and consider the best approach to increase First Nations procurement by the firm.
A priority of the AISN for 2023 was to finalise that audit, identify barriers to Indigenous procurement and develop guidelines or processes to address those barriers and ensure Indigenous businesses are considered at every procurement opportunity.
The Procurement Working Group built on the work of 2022 by developing a Procurement Questionnaire – an online internal questionnaire for tracking Indigenous procurement across the firm, and the First Nations Procurement List to encourage and simplify procurement from First Nations businesses.
The Procurement Working Group is working to ensure the First Nations Procurement List is kept up-to-date, and to encourage the use of, and track, the responses to the Procurement Questionnaire.
In 2023, the Procurement Working Group began advertising these resources by meeting with the heads of departments within the firm and seeking their assistance to encourage members of their teams to use the resources. The List will also be used to create other resources, including (for example) a 2023 end-of-year gift giving guide, which will be distributed to the entire firm and select clients. In 2024, the Procurement Working Group will evaluate the impact of these tools and resources and consider next steps to further share these resources and increase Indigenous procurement across the firm.
Procurement in the reporting period
The AISN met its 2023 priority to, where possible, procure goods from Indigenous business. This has included procuring:
- food and drinks for AISN events and Committee meetings from Indigenous-owned businesses; and
- books for AISN book clubs from sources that ensure Indigenous authors or Indigenous-owned stores receive as much as possible from the sale of the book.
In the reporting period, this has resulted in over $11,700 being spent on procurement from Indigenous-owned businesses in connection with events organised and held by the AISN and the firm, including tickets, books, food and drinks. The money spent on various items in connection with events is detailed below. In procuring these items from Indigenous-owned businesses, we have been able to redirect funds that the firm would otherwise have spent at non-Indigenous-owned businesses.
| Date | Event | Item purchased | Indigenous-owned businesses supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2023 | Book Club (Sixty-Seven Days by Yvonne Weldon) | Catering Books |
Mabu Mabu Our Dilly Bag |
| June 2023 | ‘Art of Incarceration’ Screening and Q&A | Catering and drinks | Uncle Charlie’s Tastes of Country Chocolate on Purpose Mt Yengo Wines |
| July 2023 | Book Club (On Identity by Stan Grant) | Catering | Mabu Mabu Kallico Catering |
| July 2023 | NAIDOC week morning tea | Catering | Bunji Catering |
| July 2023 | Voice Q&A (with Mark Leibler and Peter Seidel) | Catering | Kallico Catering (Sydney) Mabu Mabu (Melbourne) |
| October 2023 | Book Club (The Visitors by Jane Harrison) | Catering | Mabu Mabu Kallico Catering |
| November 2023 | AISN end-of-year event and release of 2023 Annual Progress Report | Catering | Pawa Catering |
For the ‘Art of Incarceration’ Screening and Q&A, the AISN purchased wine made by a First Nations-owned business at a cost of $274.15, but the purchase was made through a non-Indigenous reseller due to difficulties in directly ordering the quantities required for the event. Similarly, the copies of The Visitors by Jane Harrison and On Identity by Stan Grant purchased for Book Club were unable to be purchased from First Nations-owned booksellers.