The Australian Industry Participation (AIP) policy aims to ensure that Australian industry has full, fair and reasonable opportunity to compete for work as subcontractors in major private and public projects and to enhance industry capabilities. 

The evaluation of the AIP policy was undertaken from October 2022 to April 2023 and assessed the AIP policy’s design, implementation and outcomes to assess whether it was achieving its intended objectives. It found that it continues to address the underlying barriers to Australian businesses competing for work, identified how the policy could be improved and made 16 recommendations for consideration. 

The evaluation used a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach to draw on a range of sources to answer the key evaluation questions. The evaluators: 

• surveyed businesses, and peak bodies and unions
• conducted 14 semi-structured interviews, with a total of 20 stakeholders representing DISR and 5 external organisations.
• reviewed AIP documentation and data, including a sample of AIP Plans, Compliance Reports (for Jobs Act projects) and Implementation Reports (for projects receiving Commonwealth funding or investment)
• reviewed submissions from states and territories received in response to a December 2022 DISR Discussion Paper on AIP Reform
• drew on a literature review.

Key recommendations

• Improve communication and promotion materials to clearly explain the scope of AIP requirements to stakeholders.
• Work with state and territory jurisdictions to refresh the AIP National Framework. This could include deliberation on harmonisation of State and Territory approaches.
• Undertake further analysis of financial thresholds to assess the most appropriate levels to achieve the intended policy objectives.
• Consider expanding the scope of the Jobs Act to include decommissioning and rehabilitation projects and consider other opportunities as appropriate.
• Consider how AIP policy could target sectors where there are currently lower levels of Australian industry participation and in alignment with government priorities.