Partnering for a healthier South Australia: Inside the 2025 SA Health Suppliers Conference

On 18 November 2025, the SA Health Suppliers Conference was held at the Adelaide Convention Centre, bringing together suppliers, healthcare leaders, and procurement specialists from across South Australia. This biennial event provides visibility for health collaboration and innovation.

Trevor Woolley (SA Partner) and Adam Costantini (Principal) represented Parbery at the Conference, including meeting with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital project team and the Procurement and Supply Chain management team.

The theme and purpose

The 2025 theme, ‘Partnering for Impact: Supplying a Healthier South Australia,’ underscored SA Health’s commitment to building strong partnerships that deliver better outcomes for patients and communities. Partnering and collaboration is critically important, given the significant investment from the SA Government on major projects such as the new Women’s and Children’s hospital.

A few highlights

• The Health Minister, Chris Picton, outlined the key needs of SA Health as needing to maximise benefits from the ~$3B in annual spend on health-related goods and services. This includes ensuring economic benefits and job creation/retention for SA-based businesses.
• A key target for SA Health procurements is for at least 20% to come from local SA enterprises.
• SA Health recognises the need for continuity of supply to ensure resilience.
• The use of technology to deliver services is a key area of investigation, as is the use of AI to enhance outcomes and increase delivery efficiency.
• The Exhibition Hall showcased innovative products and services, including a mobile CT scanner that is about to enter clinical trials in Adelaide.
• A number of procurement case studies were presented, including the award-winning catering reform project and the agile linen procurement, demonstrating the SA Health appetite for challenging existing procurement practices
• The breadth of the SA Health supply chain was impressive, with over 17,000 vendors providing everything from hospital services (cleaning, catering) through to life saving medical equipment.

Looking ahead

The conference reinforced the importance of strong supplier relationships, promoting innovation and focussing on sustainable practices to enhance the SA Health System.

Parbery is a supplier on the SA Health Professional Services Panel across the following categories:

• Project Services
• Business and Advisory Services
• ICT Services
• Human Resources Recruitment and Services

We look forward to growing our partnerships within SA Health and supporting future projects that drive positive change for our state.