Policy-led innovations: the impact of Indigenous procurement policies on contractors’ behaviour towards Indigenous people's participation in construction projects

George Denny-Smith, Martin Loosemore, Riza Yosia Sunindijo and Megan Williams

Chapter 9 in Research Companion to Innovation in Construction, 2025, pp 178-202 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Policy-led social innovations like Indigenous procurement policies require contractors to meet purchasing and employment targets, creating social value for Indigenous peoples experiencing socioeconomic inequities. While research has explored how contractors respond to these policy-led innovations, their possible social value and the potential risks created by challenging industry norms and practices, there is little evidence exploring how these policies impact contractors’ behaviour towards Indigenous participation on construction projects. Without this understanding, there is a risk that IPPs will not achieve their intended outcomes. This chapter addresses this question using interviews with 21 owners and senior managers of Indigenous and non-Indigenous construction companies. Interviews were developed and framed using Ngaa-bi-nya, an Aboriginal evaluation framework which provides a culturally relevant and novel way to conceptualise the impact of IPPs on contractors’ behaviour. Findings indicate that IPPs are a ‘radical innovation’ that requires contractors to change their ways of doing business to better engage with Indigenous contractors and workers to deliver projects. Behavioural changes include new connections and partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous contractors, and greater collaboration between contractors to identify work opportunities and build shared solutions with Indigenous contractors as decision-makers. These findings have significant implications to encourage innovation at an industry or company level, as policies can influence behavioural change in the industry. Contractors may use our insights to promote innovative behaviour. We argue for the importance of policy-led innovations like IPPs to drive behavioural change in construction to progress social sustainability for Indigenous peoples and other groups experiencing socioeconomic challenges.

Keywords: Construction; Indigenous procurement; Policy-led innovation; Social sustainability; Social value; Sustainable procurement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035326587
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