Local Jobs First
Local Jobs First (LJF) is about creating local jobs and opportunities for Victorian businesses and workers, ensuring they are given full and fair opportunity to compete for large and small Victorian Government contracts.
The Local Jobs First policy must be applied by all Victorian government departments and agencies for any type of project with a value of:
- $1 million or more in regional Victoria, or
- $3 million or more in metropolitan Melbourne or for state-wide activities.
Minimum local content requirements are set for government projects worth $50 million or more or for other projects as agreed.
Through this policy, Victoria has a strong mandate to drive local jobs and capability for Government-funded and supported major projects.
Our role and this policy could not be more important as Australia recovers from the effects of COVID-19, and the desire for sovereign capability has never been stronger.
Major Project Skills Guarantee (MPSG)
This policy helps create opportunities for Victorian apprentices, trainees and cadets to work on Victoria’s building and infrastructure projects supporting the skills pipeline.
Under the MPSG, all construction projects valued at or over $20 million are required to use Victorian apprentices, trainees or cadets for at least 10 per cent of the total estimated labour hours.
Update: Steel Policy Enhancements August 2022
The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions and the Local Jobs First Commissioner released Steel Policy Enhancements to Government Procurement.
A new process has been introduced to apply for strategic projects.
Key changes to policy:
- All steel packages for strategic government projects, greater than $50m in value, must be published on ICN Gateway for full transparency and visibility
- Any significant diversion by a supplier for a LJF project must now notify the project delivery agency in advance of any changes to local sourcing
A significant diversion is one that proposes to:
- reduce the local content of any steel item or
- reduce by 20% or more local content of any item of significant value to the project ($5 million or 5% of total project value)
For more details please read here
Upcoming events
Expression of Interest: Sustainable Supply Chains Workshop
This workshop offers a unique platform where small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), industry leaders, government representatives, academia, and experts come together to tackle key challenges in supply chain sustainability.
Latest firesides
Fireside Chat with Wamarra – Hayden Heta
Fireside Chat with Glenne Drover
Past events
Industry Advisers
Medtech Industry Adviser
Dr Craig Neylon
Dr Craig Neylon is our Medtech Industry Adviser and an internationally acclaimed medical researcher with over 50 scientific publications.
Craig worked overseas in Cambridge UK, Duke University Medical Centre North Carolina, and was an ambassador for Australian Science at the National Cardiology Institute in Moscow. He is highly experienced in the biotech and medical device industry having worked as product development manager at Sienna Cancer Diagnostics and project lead at Leica Biosystems.
Connect with Craig on LinkedIn | 0417385975 | cneylon@icnvic.org.au
Industry Adviser
Peter McCracken
Peter McCracken is the Regional Industry Advisor for Geelong, Barwon and Great South Coast.
Peter has extensive experience in manufacturing – particularly in the automotive sector – with roles covering business development/sales, training, installation, and production. Peter has worked at the Ford Motor Company, at which he held a range of roles from electrical to plant supervisor. Peter then moved onto both technical and business development roles with companies such as Clipsal, Schneider Electric and Eaton Industries.
Connect with Peter on LinkedIn | 0407 505 477 | pmccracken@icnvic.org.au
Industry Adviser
Colin Young
Colin Young is the Regional Industry Advisor for Gippsland.
Colin has an extensive background in the energy sector, including more than 25 years as Engineering Manager at Victoria’s largest power station, Loy Yang A. As a long-term local resident of Gippsland, Colin has a passion for regional business with a particular focus on helping them transition to renewable energy opportunities as they emerge.
Connect with Colin on LinkedIn | 0438 753 428 | cyoung@icnvic.org.au
Industry Adviser
Stuart Smyth
Stuart Smyth is the Industry Adviser for Metro Melbourne and will be responsible for supporting major civil infrastructure projects.
He has tertiary qualifications in Science and Business, and a diverse background spanning over 20 years across commercial, government and university settings. Stuart is passionate about teamwork and collaboration, customer and stakeholder relationships and creating sustainable impact.
Connect with Stuart on LinkedIn | 0401 976 300 | ssmyth@icnvic.org.au
Senior Industry Liason
Andrew Bradley
Andrew Bradley is our Senior Industry Liaison, a position crucial to delivering the Victorian Government’s Local Jobs First Policy.
Maintaining and improving the level of Australian businesses with onshore operations acts as one of Andrew’s key motivators, which in turn involves regularly bringing together project owners, buyers, and suppliers from across the state to Help Local Win.
Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn| 0447446091 |abradley@icnvic.org.au
Renewable Energy Industry Adviser
Lisa Maro
Lisa Maro is our Renewable Energy Industry Adviser, working on the huge number of renewable projects in Victoria. Lisa is excited to be a part of this dynamic team helping to maximise local content in this rapid growth sector. She will also work on some metro-based strategic construction projects.
Lisa comes to us from the power industry, having worked in national sales roles selling locally manufactured substation products across many sectors including the renewables industry. She has an electrical engineering background and has also completed an MBA.
Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn | 0437853951 | lmaro@icnvic.org.au
ICN help desk
| Phone | 1300 961 139 (within Australia) |
| Phone | +61 2 6285 2033 (outside Australia) |
| helpdesk@icncopy |
