A spotlight on procurement

The Australasian Procurement Network (AUPN) and the University Procurement Hub (UPH) collaboratively drive transformative procurement solutions for universities across Australasia. Their work spans comprehensive strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, and sustainable procurement practices.

AUPN and UPH engage in cutting-edge market analysis and leverage collective expertise to optimise purchasing power, ensuring universities access high-quality resources efficiently and cost-effectively. Their initiatives empower educational institutions to focus on their core mission—delivering exceptional education—while fostering innovation and sustainability in procurement practices.


The Australian Universities Procurement Network

The Australasian Universities Procurement Network (AUPN) unites 41 institutions across Australia and New Zealand in a concerted effort to elevate procurement standards within the higher education sector.

The collective mission is to revolutionise strategic procurement practices through collaboration. By fostering an environment of shared knowledge and expertise, promoting the advantages

of consolidated purchasing, enhancing operational efficiency, providing professional education opportunities, and spearheading the creation of regional and national procurement contracts, the network drives excellence in procurement across the sector.

AUPN Conference

The annual AUPN Conference provides a platform for universities to discuss procurement strategies and best practices, fostering collaboration and efficiency in procurement processes.


The AUPN Anti-Slavery Program

The AUPN is leading a sector collaboration to support member universities in meeting the challenge of human rights transparency and risk management in their supply chains and contributing to fulfilling the reporting requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth). By working together, the network hopes to minimise the duplication of activities and associated costs across individual universities, including risk assessment, implementation of systems and remediation. They also hope that leveraging their aggregated buying power will improve the capacity to identify and action any modern slavery risks, and drive more effective changes through higher education supply chains.


AUPN Online Portal

Australasian Universities Procurement Network (AUPN) members gain exclusive access to a comprehensive online Community Portal, a dynamic hub designed to empower procurement professionals with invaluable resources and tools. Within this portal, members can access an array of procurement best practice toolkits, curated resources, and customisable templates to help streamline their procurement processes and optimise efficiency.


University Procurement Hub (UPH)

The University Procurement Hub (UPH) is a groundbreaking platform revolutionising how universities across Australia procure goods and services to meet their distinct needs. UPH bolsters the ongoing excellence synonymous with Australian higher education by fostering direct savings.

Through UPH, core procurement services are ingeniously delivered by pooling purchasing power from participating universities. This collaborative approach increases savings as aggregated spending grows, benefiting all involved institutions. Enhanced process efficiency, spend visibility, and comprehensive spend analysis leverage rich data and market intelligence, driving continual improvement.

Comprising 14 universities, UPH operates under a Heads of Agreement signed by all participating institutions. This agreement establishes codes of conduct and business principles, guiding UPH operations within an agreed governance structure, with representation from all member universities.


About HES Procurement

Through the AUPN and UPH, HES supports higher education providers in optimising their procurement processes to ensure cost-effectiveness, compliance, and quality assurance.

For more information contact:



Tony Wilson
twilson@hes.edu.au