How employment-focused social procurement tackles health inequities: an investigation of Australia’s construction industry using determinants of health theory

With public and private clients in the construction industry increasingly using social procurement to achieve their social responsibility goals, it is important to develop theory-informed approaches for understanding how and to what extent social procurement creates social value. The research presented in this article uses social determinants of health (SDOH) theory to develop a case study of an employment-focused social procurement initiative in Australia’s construction industry. The case study shows how the employment-focused social procurement initiative used cross-sector intermediation to alleviate structural barriers to employment, including siloing in the employment services sector, unsupported pathways from training into employment in construction, and negative stereotypes of people who face structural barriers to employment. Using SDOH theory, the paper frames these barriers to employment as ‘upstream’ and ‘midstream’ structural determinants of health inequities. The research finds that the initiative’s impacts on determinants of health inequities are enabled and limited by commercial factors including project location and duration, status of the principal contractor, and insider knowledge of timing and requirements of new jobs.