Businesses are now looking at the extended supply chain, procurement and e-marketplaces to provide additional business efficiencies and business leverage to maintain their competitive positions. Strategically a superior supply chain (Cooper et al, 1997) will increase a business's responsiveness and competitive advantage. This paper looks at the role that the e-marketplace plays in the Australian business environment with a case study of the global resource company BHPBilliton and its adoption of e-marketplaces. The results of a survey are presented together with an analysis of the current and future procurement practices of 38 Australian organisations together with their intentions of moving to the e-marketplace model for procurement. --AusWeb 03 :  Hyatt Sanctuary Cove, Gold Coast, Queensland, 5-9 July 2003