Writing a buying brief before asking for a supplier list
Organisations that want to buy from LGBTIQA+ owned businesses often begin by asking for a list of suppliers. This explainer sets out what a buyer should write down first, so that a business can tell quickly whether the work suits it, and includes a template to copy.
Topic
Geography
Published
Sources checked
10 November 2026
Reading time
5 minutes
Published by
Pride in Business, an initiative of Just Gold. Disclosures and editorial principles
Start with one purchase that has an owner
A commitment to buy from LGBTIQA+ owned businesses usually begins as a statement of intent from an executive, a diversity team or an employee network. A business owner who receives that statement has very little to act on, because it does not say what the organisation needs, where it is needed, when it must be delivered, how a supplier will be chosen or how the supplier will be paid. The most useful first step for a buyer is therefore to choose one real purchase and describe it properly before asking anyone for introductions.
The purchase should have a defined requirement and a person with the authority and budget to move it forward. Employee networks often know which businesses are active in their community, but they rarely hold a budget or approve suppliers, so the brief needs the budget holder, and the procurement team where the organisation has one, involved from the start. A brief written by a network alone tends to produce introductions that cannot become orders.
Describe the outcome before the supplier
The brief should describe the work in enough detail for a business to judge whether it can deliver it. For an event, that means the location and format, expected attendance, accessibility requirements, production needs and a budget range. For professional services, it means the problem to be solved, the deliverables, the experience the work requires and the timetable. A business owner can only weigh the effort of responding against the value of the work when both are visible.
Requirements that are essential should be separated from those that are preferences. Where a supplier must hold particular insurance, have a local presence, pass a security check or accept set contract terms, the brief should say so at the outset. A small business that spends a day preparing a response before discovering an undisclosed condition it cannot meet is less likely to respond to the same buyer again.
State what evidence of ownership the buyer will accept
No Australian body certifies LGBTIQA+ owned businesses, so a buyer that wants to include them has to decide what it will accept as evidence of ownership, if it asks for any. The brief should state whether the buyer relies on the owner’s own description, on certification from an overseas body such as the NGLCC in the United States, or on some other evidence, and what that evidence is used for in the selection. Ownership is one part of the decision and does not on its own establish that a business can deliver a particular contract.
The brief should also say who will see any information about ownership and how it will be stored. Some owners are open about who they are in every commercial setting and some are not, and a business is more likely to respond when it knows in advance what it is being asked to disclose and why.
Keep the response proportionate and the terms visible
The information requested should match the size of the opportunity. For an early conversation, a short capability summary and two relevant examples of past work will usually tell a buyer more than a full tender response. Where the organisation’s rules require a formal proposal, the brief should set out the evaluation criteria, the weighting and the timetable, so that the business can decide whether to commit the time.
Payment terms and onboarding steps belong in the brief as well. Large buyers and government agencies must set a business up as a supplier before they can pay it, and that process can involve registration, insurance certificates, policy declarations and banking checks. Our explainer on supplier onboarding with large Australian buyers sets out what this usually involves. A buyer that cannot change a requirement still helps a supplier by stating it early.
Record what happens after the brief is issued
An introduction, a conversation, a submitted bid, a contract award and a completed, paid contract are different results, and they should be recorded separately. Organisations that count every introduction as success cannot tell which part of their process is working, and a business owner who has been introduced to a buyer has not yet been paid. Recording each stage makes the next purchase easier to improve and gives the organisation an honest account of what its commitment has produced.
Where government buyers publish their opportunities
Government purchases are advertised on official tender systems, and a business looking for this work can register for notifications on each. According to business.gov.au, the Australian Government publishes its opportunities on AusTender, with digital and ICT work on BuyICT. The states and territories use their own systems: Tenders ACT, NSW eTendering, Quotations and Tenders Online in the Northern Territory, QTenders in Queensland, Tenders SA, Tasmanian Government Tenders, the Buying for Victoria Supplier Portal and Tenders WA. A government buyer issuing a brief through one of these systems is bound by its own procurement rules, and those rules take precedence over any template.
A brief to copy
The headings below can be copied into an email or a document and completed for one purchase. The same template is available to download as a Word document, with guidance under each heading.
- The purchase. The outcome required, the scope, the deliverables and anything excluded.
- Location and timing. Where the work will be delivered, whether remote delivery is possible, the key dates and the response deadline.
- Commercial terms. The budget range, the length of the contract and the payment terms, including how invoices are submitted.
- Selection. The essential capabilities, the preferences, the evaluation criteria and the person who will make the decision.
- Evidence. What the buyer accepts as evidence of ownership, if it asks for any, what that evidence is used for and who will see it.
- Onboarding. Registration, insurance, policy and banking requirements, and how long they usually take to complete.
- Response. What information is needed at this stage, the response route and a named contact for questions.
- Follow through. When respondents will hear back, and how the organisation will record introductions, conversations, bids, awards and paid contracts.
This explainer is general guidance on preparing a purchase. It does not report findings from The State of LGBTQ+ Business in Australia, which begins in March 2027, and each organisation’s own procurement rules apply.
Sources
Our explainers describe how business and procurement systems work in Australia. They are written for business owners and others who deal with those systems from the outside, as well as for people who work within them. We review each guide at least annually and update it sooner when a relevant rule changes. Check the linked source for current eligibility requirements before applying.
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