Local Jobs First: what Victorian suppliers must commit to
Local Jobs First turns local content and jobs into contract terms on Victorian Government work. Since 1 July 2026, the consequences of missing those commitments reach your next tender.
What is Local Jobs First?
Local Jobs First is Victoria's law and policy for local content and jobs on government projects. It applies from $1 million in regional Victoria and $3 million elsewhere. Bidders submit a Local Industry Development Plan, its commitments become contractual, and suppliers report outcomes until a completion report closes the project.
Victorian Government Agencies
Departments and public bodies must build Local Jobs First into tenders and contracts for projects at or above the thresholds. An accountable officer in each agency carries the duty to comply, and the Minister can grant exemptions only in exceptional circumstances.
Head Contractors And Direct Suppliers
Anyone tendering for a Standard or Strategic Project must submit a Local Industry Development Plan, and an agency must not accept a tender without a compliant one. If the tender succeeds, complying with the plan is a legal duty as well as a contract term.
Trade Partners And Suppliers
A trade partner (subcontractor) rarely holds the plan itself, but its spend and labour make up the figures the head contractor reports. Expect local content and jobs reporting to be written into your package.
What Local Jobs First asks for.
What you report, and when.
Local Industry Development Plan
To ICN through the VMC, then to the agency with ICN's Acknowledgement Letter
Six-Monthly Progress Report
To the agency through the VMC, then available to the Department
Significant Diversion Process
To the recipients set out in the Local Jobs First Policy
Completion Report
To the Department
- Accepted Local Industry Development Plan
- ICN Acknowledgement Letter
- Total Content And Local Content Records
- Job Outcomes Records
- Six-Monthly VMC Reports
- Agreed LIDP Variations And Diversion Records
- Completion Report
Reading Local As Victorian
The Act's local industry test is businesses based in Australia or New Zealand, so a Victorian-only count understates what can be claimed. Sorting items by the wrong test also makes the percentage impossible to reconcile against the plan.
Treating The Completion Report As Admin
Missing the 90-day deadline is, on its own, grounds for a deprioritisation of 6 to 18 months on tenders released from 1 July 2026, with a 5% to 20% deduction on later tenders. The report needs an owner and a date before the project reaches practical completion.
Raising A Shortfall Too Late
A supplier that is, or is likely to be, unable to meet its local content commitment must follow the significant diversion process, so the duty arises before the miss is final. Finding the gap in the last report leaves little room to use that process or agree a variation.
How Catchment manages Local Jobs First.
Local Content Lines Matched To The Project Type
SocialProThe Local Jobs First framework names local content requirements such as ANZ Local Content - Strategic Construction - Building. Catchment does not create them for you: you add the items and targets from your LIDP on the project's Content Origin step, by hand or by import. Work packages report line items against those categories month by month, including the LIDP items.
Jobs Against The Plan
SocialProThe framework's Local FTEs Created & Retained target starts as a headcount of apprentices, trainees and cadets, not an FTE figure. Edit who counts and set the value from your own LIDP, because the commitment differs on every project.
Monthly Figures Before Six-Monthly Reports
SocialProEach package submits a monthly report, a reviewer accepts or sends back each section, and accepted periods lock. That gives you the record to report from when you enter the six-monthly figures in the VMC, which you lodge yourself.
The LIDP And Its Supporting Documents
GovAssureThe framework adds a one-time Local Industry Development Plan (LIDP) requirement and monthly Local Content & Jobs Data. Keep each version of your own plan in the Document Register, so the commitment you are tracking stays clear after a variation.
Adopting this framework on a project generates these targets and documents. You can edit them to match your contract.
Local Jobs First questions.
What is the threshold for Local Jobs First?
A Standard Project starts at a budget of $1 million when it benefits an area wholly in rural and regional Victoria, and at $3 million otherwise. A project of $50 million or more is a Strategic Project. The Minister can also declare smaller projects to be either type.
What is a Local Industry Development Plan?
A Local Industry Development Plan, or LIDP, is the document a bidder submits to show how it will meet Local Jobs First. It identifies total content and local content for the project, plus job outcomes and any Major Projects Skills Guarantee commitment. An agency must not accept a tender without a compliant plan, and a successful bidder must comply with it.
What is the difference between Local Jobs First and VIPP?
Local Jobs First is the overarching Act and policy. The Victorian Industry Participation Policy (VIPP) is its local content and industry development part, while the Major Projects Skills Guarantee is its apprentice, trainee and cadet part. Tender evaluation reflects both, with 10% for industry development and 10% for job outcomes.
How often do you report under Local Jobs First?
Projects of $20 million or more, including all Strategic and Major Projects Skills Guarantee projects, report every six months to the agency through the Victorian Management Centre. The periods end on 30 March and 30 September. Every Standard and Strategic Project also needs a completion report no more than 90 days after practical completion.
What is deprioritisation under Local Jobs First?
The Commissioner can deprioritise a supplier for 6 to 18 months if it misses a commitment in its plan or the 90-day completion report deadline. While that is in force, a set deduction of 5% to 20% applies to the evaluation of its Local Jobs First tenders. Suppliers can seek a review, and the regime covers projects whose tender documents were released on or after 1 July 2026.
What can the Local Jobs First Commissioner do?
The Commissioner can investigate, request information, inspect sites with at least 3 business days' notice and issue compliance notices. The Commissioner can also ask an agency to audit a supplier. The Minister can issue an Adverse Publicity Notice, and courts can make civil penalty orders for failing to comply with an information or inspection notice.
Can payment depend on Local Jobs First compliance?
Yes. Unless it is not practicable or appropriate, an agency must make its liability to pay contingent on compliance with Local Jobs First and the plan. The Act notes that the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 still has effect despite any contrary contract term, so get advice on your own contract.
- Local Jobs First Act 2003, No. 72 of 2003, Authorised Version 009 (Victorian Legislation, Chief Parliamentary Counsel)
- Local Jobs First Supplier Guidelines, July 2026 (Victorian Government, Local Jobs First)
- Local Jobs First - Monitoring and reporting obligations (Victorian Government, Local Jobs First)
- Local Jobs First - Changes to the Local Jobs First Act 2003 (Victorian Government, Local Jobs First)
Reviewed 4 November 2026. General information to help you plan reporting, not legal advice. Policies change, so check the current version with the policy owner before you rely on it.
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