Statistics on Australian Government Procurement Contracts

AusTender is the Australian Government’s procurement information system. Suppliers and other interested parties seeking information on Australian Government procurements can visit the AusTender website.

The Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) require non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCEs) and prescribed corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs) to publish a range of information on AusTender, including planned procurements, open requests for tender, standing offer arrangements and details of contracts that have been awarded. NCEs report details of contracts with a value of $10,000 or more, and prescribed CCEs report contracts with a value of $400,000 or more. Under the devolved procurement framework, individual entities are responsible for accurately reporting their procurements and contracts on AusTender.

The following data reflects contractual information reported on AusTender by entities during the relevant financial year in accordance with entities' procurement publishing obligations. Data is extracted from AusTender at the end of each financial year to prepare the aggregated information on this page. The figures for financial year 2022-23 were extracted from AusTender on 24 July 2023. Contract data can be amended, varied and updated by entities over time.

Note: To view current AusTender data, visit Information Made Easy (tenders.gov.au).

Total Procurement Contracts

The contract values on AusTender represent the total maximum value of each contract over its life, including where contracts span multiple years. AusTender data does not reflect annual expenditure.

In 2022-23 there were 83,625 contracts published with a combined value of $74.8 billion.

Total Value of Procurement Contracts by Financial Year - $million

Procurement Thresholds

In 2022-23:

Below is a summary of the number and value of contracts awarded at various thresholds.

Location of suppliers 

94.5 per cent by volume and 88.4 per cent by value of the contracts in 2022-23 were awarded to businesses with an Australian address. 

Goods & Services

Note: Contracts reported on AusTender are categorised under the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC). 

Contracts by Commonwealth Entity

*The formation of new entities following Machinery of Government changes means they can’t be compared to entities of previous financial years.

Estimates of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Participation

The Government is committed to supporting SMEs through Government procurement

The Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) include commitments to:

• source at least 20 per cent by value of all procurement from SMEs.
• source at least 35 per cent of contracts valued up to $20 million from SMEs.

Definition

An SME is defined by the Commonwealth Procurement Rules as an Australian or New Zealand firm with fewer than 200 full-time equivalent employees. A small business is defined as a business with fewer than 20 full-time equivalent employees.

Statistical Approach

The SME statistics estimate the level of SME participation in Government procurement. The estimate is provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) based on AusTender data and the ABS Business Register. 

Policies to Support SMEs

A range of policies and frameworks exist to support SMEs participating in the Government procurement market, including:

• The Commonwealth Procurement Framework is non-discriminatory and requires that all potential suppliers are treated equitably based on their commercial, legal, technical and financial abilities and that they are not discriminated against, for example, due to their size;
• The CPRs require the economic benefit to the Australian economy to be considered as part of the value for money assessment for procurements valued above $4 million for non-construction services and $7.5 million for construction services;
• The Indigenous Procurement Policy is a mandatory procurement-connected policy that includes specific targets for agencies to contract with indigenous businesses, most of which are SMEs;
• Australian Industry Participation (AIP) is a mandatory procurement connected policy that encourages full, fair and reasonable opportunity for Australian businesses to compete for work in major public and private projects in Australia; and
• The Supplier Pay on Time Policyfocuses on facilitating efficient and timely payment to suppliers, which has been updated on 1 July 2022 and replaces the previous version dated 1 January 2020.
• In 2021-22, 96.4% of invoices were paid within 20 days, compared to 93.2% in 2020-21. For further information on payment times refer annual Australian Government Pay On-Time Survey.

Statistical Estimate of SME Participation in 2022-23

The 2022-23 figures highlight the ongoing strength of participation by SMEs in Commonwealth procurement.