Queensland Has Quietly Rewritten Procurement - and Most Businesses Aren’t Ready
Why DFV capability is now a tender-winning factor in 2025–26
Across Australia, we’ve seen shifts in workplace safety, ESG, ethical sourcing and human rights.
But Queensland’s newest procurement reform is one of the most significant and one of the least understood.
Domestic & Family Violence (DFV) is no longer framed as a cultural issue or an HR initiative.
It has become a measurable procurement requirement.
And in several major infrastructure tenders, DFV-related criteria are already weighted at up to 20% of total scoring.
This is not administrative detail.
It is a structural change that will determine which organisations can compete in Queensland’s 2025–26 government contracting pipeline.
A Procurement Shift With Commercial Consequences
Under the Queensland Procurement Policy and DFV guidance, government agencies are embedding DFV and psychosocial safety expectations into evaluation matrices.
Suppliers are now expected to demonstrate:
A formal DFV workplace policy
Clear support and response pathways
Confidentiality processes
Escalation protocols for DFV spillover, workplace violence or threats
Evidence of real capability, not just PDF statements
Alignment with the Human Rights Act and Ethical Supplier Mandate
This is not guidance for future adoption.
This applies now, in active tenders.
The logic is simple:
WHS law mandates that psychological harm be managed with the same seriousness as physical harm
DFV spillover into the workplace is a foreseeable hazard
When government funds an organisation, it expects that workforce safety, in all environments, is assured
Queensland has aligned procurement with real-world risk.
Why DFV Has Become a Tender Score - Not a Social Value Bonus
Government buyers are no longer asking whether a business has a DFV policy.
They are now asking:
“Can your organisation prevent, identify and respond to DFV-linked risks that may impact your workforce?”
Procurement evaluators are now looking for tools and documented capability that go beyond policy statements - that show a real ability to identify, escalate and respond to psychosocial and DFV-related risk in real time. Several forces shaped this shift:
DFV spillover is now recognised as a WHS risk with leadership liability
Procurement teams must demonstrate supplier safety assurance
Human rights compliance is integrated into Queensland procurement
DFV is one of the fastest-growing triggers of workplace psychosocial harm
Most organisations lack specialist capability to respond
Incidents escalate fast, often outside business hours
This change did not emerge quietly.
It was driven by years of lobbying, inquiries and survivor advocacy.
The Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce, led by Judge Deborah Richards, recommended using procurement as a lever to lift DFV capability across supplier ecosystems.
Survivor advocates, including Sue and Lloyd Clarke (Small Steps 4 Hannah), pushed for structural accountability following the murder of their daughter, Hannah Clarke.
DFV networks, including QDVSN and Women’s Legal Service QLD, argued that voluntary standards were insufficient.
The result?
A whole-of-government reform embedding DFV expectations directly into procurement — one of the boldest uses of purchasing power in Australian public administration.
The 20% Signal: What It Means for Competitiveness
When DFV and psychosocial safety criteria are weighted at up to 20%, suppliers must re-think their approach to tender readiness.
Procurement signals shape market behaviour.
This one is clear:
Organisations that cannot demonstrate DFV readiness will lose points - and may lose the contract.
Tender teams that once focused primarily on delivery methodology and price must now integrate:
DFV risk assessments
Safe-contact strategies
Response workflows
Clear escalation lines
Evidence of external specialist capability
This is not simply compliance.
This is qualification.
What Procurement Teams Are Actually Looking For
After discussions with industry and WHS leaders across Queensland, the emerging expectations are consistent:
Evidence, not intention
DFV readiness must be operational, not conceptual.Clear incident-response pathways
Who acts? How quickly? Using what framework?Demonstrated support mechanisms
Confidentiality, trauma-informed processes, safe work planning.Alignment with WHS
DFV spillover, threats and stalking must be treated as psychosocial hazards.External specialist capability
Procurement teams increasingly ask who you partner with when high-risk events escalate.Leadership assurance
Directors now carry personal accountability for psychosocial harm.
Many procurement teams are increasingly focused on operational evidence - not just documented intentions. They want to see that workers can raise safety concerns early, that there is a monitored escalation pathway and that incidents are recorded in a structured way that supports follow-up and review. Tools that enable discreet duress activation, secure incident logging and clear escalation to a response team help organisations demonstrate practical safety response capability rather than relying on policy statements alone.
The Gap: Policy vs Capability
Most organisations now have a DFV policy.
Very few have DFV capability.
A policy cannot:
prevent an aggressor arriving on site
triage a workplace threat
activate after-hours escalation
liaise with police
manage staff trauma
document a response for WHS inspectors or procurement audits
Procurement teams understand this - and they are now scoring accordingly.
This is the capability gap currently costing suppliers competitiveness.
How Organisations Build Tender-Grade DFV Capability
Meeting Queensland’s new requirements doesn’t mean developing everything internally.
Most organisations can’t and procurement teams do not expect them to.
They expect to see a layered capability framework, which typically includes:
1. Specialist Incident Response & Workplace Support - Safety Assist
Most organisations can write a DFV policy, but few can respond when a real incident occurs.
Common gaps include unclear escalation pathways, untrained managers, no after-hours support, inconsistent safety planning, and no ability to co-ordinate crisis logistics.
Safety Assist provides the specialist response layer organisations typically lack - without draining internal teams.
It activates immediately when DFV spillover, threats, stalking or workplace violence impact staff, providing:
24/7 incident escalation and rapid risk assessment
Trauma-informed case management
Emergency accommodation and safe transport
Safety planning and workplace adjustments
Support liaising with police or emergency services
Confidential communication pathways for staff
Documentation aligned to WHS, insurers and procurement audits
Safety Assist turns policy into operational capability - ensuring incidents are managed safely, consistently and defensibly, while allowing HR and WHS teams to stay focused on core responsibilities.
This is the practical readiness layer procurement teams now expect to see.
2. Workforce Capability & Psychosocial Risk Support - organisations like Concentric Concepts
Many suppliers will require capability uplift before they can meet Queensland’s procurement expectations.
Organisations like Concentric Concepts provide specialist support including:
evidence-based DFV and psychosocial hazard training
organisational readiness assessments
guidance for managing complex DFV disclosures or safety concerns
development of trauma-informed workplace response protocols
safe-work planning for at-risk employees
This type of specialist expertise helps bridge the gap between policy and operational readiness — the exact gap procurement evaluators scrutinise.
3. Secure Reporting, Threat Identification & Investigation Support - platforms like GuardianT
Procurement teams now expect organisations to demonstrate confidential, defensible pathways for reporting and managing DFV-linked risk, workplace threats and early warning signs - because this shows systems in use, not just policy on paper. Platforms like GuardianT provide:
anonymous and secure reporting
investigation-grade evidence management
chain-of-custody and audit-trail documentation
triage and escalation workflows
threat pattern identification
safe communication channels with affected workers
This type of infrastructure shows procurement evaluators that an organisation is not only compliant on paper, but equipped to identify, triage and manage real risk.
Together, These Layers Create Tender-Ready DFV Capability
When combined, these capability layers allow suppliers to demonstrate:
defensible WHS-aligned DFV readiness
operational response capability
trained and supported leaders
confidential reporting infrastructure
integrity in governance and audit documentation
These capability layers provide verifiable evidence that an organisation can identify, escalate and manage real risks - the very kind of evidence procurement evaluators are increasingly weighting in scoring. This moves a business beyond compliance on paper to demonstrable readiness in practice.
What Businesses Need To Do Now
If your organisation intends to bid into Queensland Government projects, DFV readiness must now form part of your tender strategy.
Immediate priorities include:
Reviewing your DFV policy for operational depth
Establishing incident pathways and escalation maps
Training managers on DFV-linked WHS obligations
Integrating DFV into your psychosocial risk framework
Documenting readiness for procurement audit
Engaging external capability partners
The organisations that prepare early will be those that remain competitive.
Download the QLD DFV Tender-Readiness Executive Brief
Our one-page brief outlines:
What changed
Scoring implications
Procurement expectations
The 20% weighting
The capability layers suppliers now need
Final Thought: Queensland Has Set a New Tender Standard
This is more than compliance.
More than documentation.
More than policy alignment.
Queensland has used procurement to elevate workforce protection.
Other states will follow.
The organisations that prepare now will win later.