Print this pageOur procurement policies and practices reflect the principles set out in the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines. We focus on:
- value for money
- encouraging competition
- efficient, effective and ethical use of government resources
- accountability and transparency, and
- compliance with other Australian Government policies.
Our Chief executive Instructions (CEIs) on procurement reflect these principles and the need for compliance by all staff when choosing procurement methods, sourcing potential supplies or entering into contracts. As part of these arrangements, in 2005–06 we published details of:
- publicly available business opportunities with a value of $10 000 or more* on AusTender www.tenders.gov.au
- actual contracts or standing offers awarded with a value of $10 000 or more* in the Purchasing and Disposals Gazette www.contracts.gov.au—no contracts were exempted from gazettal
- actual contracts or standing offers with a value of $100 000 or more* on our website www.pmc.gov.au as required by Senate Order 192.
All major contracts for activities previously performed in-house included a requirement for contractors to allow access to their premises by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO).
More information on the procurement we expect to undertake in 2006–07 is published in our annual procurement plan, as available at www.tenders.gov.au.
Our compliance with gazettal and reporting requirements was reviewed in several cross-portfolio audit reports tabled by the ANAO in 2005–06.
In order to address the findings of the audit report and to strengthen our compliance with these requirements, we have:
- reviewed our CEIs and associated procurement procedures
- issued standard tendering and contract templates for use by staff
- instituted processes to ensure that confidentiality provisions are correctly identified before a contract is signed, and
- strengthened our processes for coordinating and compiling reports against Senate Order 192.
We are also working with the Department of Finance and Administration and other stakeholders to examine options for improving reporting of procurement across the Australian Government. This may involve, among other things, rationalising the number of reporting regimes.
* All values shown include the goods and services tax (GST) unless indicated otherwise.
Consultants are engaged to provide professional, independent and expert advice or services. We select consultants in the same way that we procure other services and goods.
In 2005–06 we spent a total of $3.5 million on consultancies. This comprised $0.231 million on four existing consultancies, and $3.240 million on 69 new consultancy contracts entered into in 2005–06.
Details of new consultancy contracts valued at $10 000 or more MS Word 393KB | PDF 71KB
Market research and advertising. Table 8.2 covers payments of $1500 and above to external consultants engaged by PM&C to provide advertising and market research services and for the placement of advertising by hma Blaze and Universal McCann, the Central Advertising System (CAS) master media placement agencies.
In 2005–06 PM&C spent a total of $0.7 million on the placement of advertising through the CAS master media placement agencies and on payments to external consultants engaged to provide advertising and market research services.
* historical data is taken from previous year's annual reports and may understate consultancy expenditures and values to some extent due to definitional changes. it also includes activity by the office of the Status of Women before its transfer to the department of family and Community Services in 2004–05.
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