External service providers

In 2008–09 the department continued to contract consultants and other non–government service providers to supply goods or services. This section provides an overview of our use of consultants. It also gives information required by law about exempt and other contracts.

Consultants

In 2008–09, we hired consultants where we identified a need for specialised or professional skills or for independent research or assessment. Chief Executive Instruction 4 on procurement contains procedures and guidelines for engaging consultants. Each proposal for a consultancy must specify the project requirements, justify the use of a consultant, identify the expected costs, recommend a procurement method and explain how the consultant’s performance will be evaluated and monitored.

In line with the principles of the Commonwealth procurement guidelines, the department engages consultants based on:

• value for money
• open and effective competition
• ethics and fair dealing
• accountability and reporting
• national competitiveness and industry development
• support for other Australian Government policies.

During 2008–09, we entered into 192 new consultancy contracts, with a value of $16,537,050. Total actual expenditure on new consultancies was $11,905,717. In addition, 90 ongoing consultancies involved total actual expenditure of $2,798,322.

Table 32 shows the number and value of consultancies with a value greater than $10,000, and total expenditure on consultancies, for 2008–09 and the two previous years. Table 33 shows why it was necessary to use consultancies.

During the year, the department continued contracts with a panel of legal services providers, comprising the Australian Government Solicitor, Minter Ellison, Sparke Helmore and Blake Dawson. Although these contracts may include a variety of consultancy engagements, they are subsets of an overarching contract, and have not been separately identified or included in the numbers reported.

Details of consultancy contracts over $10,000 (including GST) let during the year are available on the department’s website.

Other contract information

This section contains information that we are required by law to publish in our annual report.

Exempt contracts

No contracts let during 2008–09 were exempted by the secretary from being published on AusTender on the basis that publication would disclose exempt matters under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

Access by the Auditor-General

All contracts valued at $100,000 or more (inclusive of GST) let during 2008–09 provided for the Auditor-General to have access to the contractor’s premises.

Further information

Further information about expenditure on contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website (www.tenders.gov.au).

Purchasing

Overall, in 2008–09 the department complied with the purchasing policies outlined in the Commonwealth procurement guidelines. Any exceptions were reported in the Certificate of Compliance.

The department’s divisions are responsible for their own purchasing, subject to a Chief Executive Instruction on procurement that complements the Commonwealth procurement guidelines. This instruction sets three thresholds for purchases.

Purchases worth less than $10,000 do not require competitive quotes.

Purchases from $10,000 to $79,999 can be made, as appropriate, through the department’s corporate contracts, through the Central Advertising System, or by using the department’s purchasing procedures to source the market.

Purchases of $80,000 or more are subject to public tender, but exemptions may be approved in some circumstances.

Staff involved in purchasing use the department’s Procurement Guidelines and checklists to ensure that they consider value for money, and encourage competition and efficient and effective use of resources.

The department launched an open tender process for the supply of IT services across the department in July 2008 and finalised the tender on 24 March 2009. The result of the finalised process was that Electronic Data Systems Australia Pty Ltd replaced CSG Limited as the department’s managed IT service provider. A tender process for the provision of communications services across the department and AQIS was sent out to the market in October 2008. Two categories of the tender were finalised in May 2009. The remaining seven categories have yet to be finalised.

We met our reporting obligations, including the listing of contracts for consultancies over $10,000 on our website in accordance with the Senate order on Departmental and Agency Contracts.

The department’s annual procurement plan is published on the AusTender website by 1 July each year. Information on expenditure and consultancies for the department is also available on the AusTender website.

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