Supply Nation and Social Traders: what their certification establishes

Disclosure. Just Gold, which funds and publishes Pride in Business, has been a Social Traders certified social enterprise since 2019. It has also worked with Social Traders as a client, including producing its digital awards and providing photography and video for Convene 2026.

Two certifications in the same procurement

A buyer may hold two certificates for suppliers in the same procurement, one verifying an enterprise’s Indigenous ownership and control and the other verifying its social enterprise status. Both can be relevant to the same purchasing decision, but they establish different things, and the two organisations that issue them have reached their standards by different routes.

Supply Nation: ownership, management and control

Supply Nation operates Indigenous Business Direct and distinguishes between registration and certification. Certification requires majority Indigenous ownership, management and control, which are assessed through business and ownership records, governance information and an interview or site visit. The process keeps these three tests separate because a share register shows who holds an interest in a business without showing how decisions are made, and Supply Nation examines both.

Verification continues after the first application. Supply Nation describes continuing checks, including ownership updates and audits, and from 2026 every Certified Supplier completes an annual face to face interview with an Indigenous Business Officer, so certification describes a business that has to keep meeting the standard over time. Registration and certification are free for eligible Indigenous businesses.

Commonwealth eligibility under the Indigenous Procurement Policy

Government eligibility is a related but separate matter. From 1 July 2026 the Commonwealth’s Indigenous Procurement Policy requires at least 51 per cent First Nations ownership and control, or registration with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, with an earlier eligibility route still available during the transition. A change in government policy does not automatically change a certifier’s rules, and both supplier and buyer need to check which requirement applies to their transaction. The National Indigenous Australians Agency is appointing a verification provider for the strengthened criteria through a tender that closed on 18 September 2026, and the Supply Nation contract has been extended for 12 months to maintain the database for the original definition. In both government policy and certifier rules, the tests are becoming tighter and more specific and are giving more weight to control than to headcount.

Social Traders: purpose and the use of trade

The Social Traders standard assesses different characteristics, asking whether the business has a defined social, cultural or environmental purpose, whether it trades, and whether it applies its resources to that purpose. The assessment examines how the enterprise actually operates, beyond the description on its website. A certified enterprise may be privately owned or take another eligible legal form, because the standard applies to the business model and the identity of the owners is not assessed.

Certification is currently free. Social Traders builds demand from the buyer side by signing business and government members who commit to buying from certified enterprises, connecting members with suppliers, and reporting the resulting spend each year. Social Traders is clear that certification and a contract remain separate steps. The model depends on its marketplace structure, with certified suppliers on one side, paying members on the other and an intermediary recording the outcome.

What the comparison shows

The two organisations offer complementary routes to the same outcome, and the sector is poorly served when it treats them as rivals. Supply Nation’s influence comes from a government target with public reporting attached, which makes it durable but dependent on the continuation of the policy. Social Traders’ influence comes from members who pay because they want the outcome, which allows it to grow more quickly but leaves it exposed in a difficult year. Both are free or close to free for suppliers and funded by buyers. In each model the buyers are the paying customers and access to certified suppliers is the service they pay for.

Implications for LGBTIQA+ supplier recognition

Any scheme to recognise LGBTIQA+ suppliers would need to settle exactly what would be verified and by whom, who would pay for that work, how a small supplier could challenge an error, what would happen when ownership changes, and what information would be passed to buyers and what would be kept private. Adopting a percentage from an existing standard would not settle these issues, and nor would building a directory. The two examples provide detail on the evidence required, the ongoing administration, and the gap between qualifying as a supplier and actually winning work, all of which the Pride in Business research can examine without presupposing that Australia needs another certifier.

Sources

1. Supply Nation. How we verify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.
2. Supply Nation. Frequently asked questions for Indigenous businesses.
3. National Indigenous Australians Agency. The Indigenous Procurement Policy is changing: current transition arrangements.
4. Social Traders. Social Enterprise Certification: full guidance notes, August 2025.
5. Social Traders. Social enterprise certification.
6. Social Traders. FY25 Impact Report, pages 8, 9 and 17.

Source pages last checked 19 September 2026.