The third episode of the Professionalising Procurement series, brought to you by the CIPS ANZ team, features quickfire interviews from public-sector practitioners from across Australia and New Zealand. Head of Procurement at ABC, Sarah Collins, shares a candid story of why procurement should always be in the room, while Emma Morrow, Manager Commissioning for Outcomes at New Zealand's Department of Corrections, offers a fascinating insight into an ongoing procurement process that focuses on engaging and collaborating with Māori communities for better outcomes. Finally, Gareth Williams gives a passionate pitch to the opportunities the profession gives people and why procurement should find you - rather than the other way round. Why wouldn't you want to get paid to spend someone else's money...?

We ask each guest what makes procurement such an exciting career choice; the influence professionals have to drive positive change; and the lessons they've learned from mistakes they've made.

Further reading:

• Cool heads in the storm: CIPS Global State of Procurement & Supply 2025, supported by GEP
• CIPS ANZ regional hub
• Make CIPS your career companion - become a member

Have you seen the new and improved CIPS Professional Register? The directory shares the professional status of procurement and supply chain practitioners around the world, and you can now personalise your profile with specialisms and expertise.

• Check out your listing on the Professional Register

What do businesses owe to faraway workers who make their products? That's the question put by Professor Michael Posner from the NYU Stern School of Business in his new book, Conscience Incorporated: Pursue Profits While Protecting Human Rights. Posner is a world expert in human rights with extensive experience as a human rights lawyer, State Department official under the Obama administration and chair of the Fair Labor Association. He offers a unique perspective on what we can learn from the significant progress the apparel sector has made, the complexities of the solar panel industry, and why human rights should be a business priority alongside performance and revenue. Plus, the evolving risks to human rights coming from the AI space.

His message to procurement and supply professionals facing these issues on the frontline is clear: you must find ways of meaningfully delivering on the promises companies are making.

Further reading:

• Purchase Professor Posner's new book - Conscience Incorporated: Pursue Profits While Protecting Human Rights
• CIPS Ethics eLearning and Test
• Read: demand fair pay and a living wage for your supply chain
• CIPS Foundation supports development of Modern Slavery Helpline

In our second episode of the CIPS Futures podcast mini-series brought to you by the CIPS ANZ team, we talk to Jane Wagner and Samir El-Sabagh, both procurement professionals from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Aged Care. As a former CIPS Leader of the Year, Jane explains what procurement can learn from the finance profession in following a maturity path to develop capability and ensure that the value of highly qualified procurement and contract management professionals is recognised in strategic roles.

And we get under the skin of how professional qualifications translate to being better at your job. Samir shares his journey to becoming CIPS qualified, why it's opened new doors in his career and offers candid examples of how he's delivered improved outcomes for the Australian public sector as a direct result of embarking on a learning pathway.

Further reading:

• About the Australian Public Service Commission's Procurement and Contract Management Profession
• CIPS ANZ regional hub
• Make CIPS your career companion - become a member

Have you seen the new and improved CIPS Professional Register? The directory shares the professional status of procurement and supply chain practitioners around the world, and you can now personalise your profile with specialisms and expertise.

• Check out your listing on the Professional Register