| Status |
Mandatory for procurements subject to the ESP Policy. |
|---|---|
| Source |
Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy Model Clauses |
| Legislation / Policy |
Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy available at https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sustainable-procurement |
| Legislation / Policy contact |
Commonwealth Sustainable Procurement Advocacy and Resource Centre (C-SPARC), Circular Economy Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. |
| Additional information |
Guides and templates available at Sustainable Procurement - DCCEEW |
The Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy (ESP Policy) applies to all non-Corporate Commonwealth entities and prescribed Corporate Commonwealth entities listed in section 30 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014.
Other Commonwealth entities are encouraged to apply the ESP Policy and contribute to the environmental aims of the policy.
The ESP Policy focuses on environmentally sustainable procurement to support the Commonwealth Procurement Rules’ value for money considerations, and Australia’s transition to a net zero and circular economy. The Policy is administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).
From 1 July 2024, construction services procurements at or above $7.5 million (incl GST) are within scope of the Policy.
From 1 July 2025, procurements for ICT goods, Textiles, Furniture, fittings and equipment at or above $1 million (incl GST) are within scope of the Policy.
The ESP Policy model clauses contain:
- Approach to market clauses
- Contract clauses.
The use of the ESP Policy model clauses will ensure approach to market processes and contracts meet both ESP Policy and CPR requirements.
The ESP Policy model clauses are available on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s website at this link:
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/sustainable-procurement/toolkit
The ESP Policy model clauses should be included by Commonwealth entities in approach to market documentation and contract documentation, as relevant, to give effect to the requirements of the ESP Policy.
Commonwealth entities are able to modify and adapt these clauses to ensure consistency with their approach to market and contract documentation, provided that the requirements of the ESP Policy are met.
Detailed guidance on the policy is available at www.dcceew.gov.au/sustainable-procurement.
Standardisation of contractual text results in efficiencies for both Parties to a contract. Before deciding whether a particular clause is appropriate, procurement officials should carefully consider the context of their procurement.
Clause wording would generally need to be changed where Commonwealth entities need to adapt the clauses to fit into their contracting templates, but the clause wording must comply with the ESP Policy.
Any terms that are capitalised may need to be changed to align with the Contract terminology.
For procurements out of scope of the Policy, there are general use approach to market and contract clauses for goods and services. These can be used to embed environmental sustainability in any procurement and can be found on finance.gov.au.
