AGTA Framework
The Australian Government Telecommunications Arrangements (AGTA)* was established by a 1996 government decision, and was implemented in 1997. It involves head agreements between approved telecommunications service providers and the Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance) representing the Australian Government.
*Formerly known as “Whole-of-Government Telecommunications Arrangements (WoGTA)”.
Under AGTA, a provider of telecommunications carriage services (as defined in the Telecommunications Act 1997) must sign an AGTA Head Agreement with the Commonwealth (containing standard terms and conditions) before they can provide such services to Australian Government agencies. Also, it is preferred that a provider of other telecommunications related goods and services to such agencies do so in accordance with an AGTA Head Agreement between the provider and the Commonwealth.
AGTA was designed using the principles set out in the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines (CPGs) administered by Finance which should be read in conjunction with other relevant government policies and practices.
Objectives of AGTA
The primary aim of the agreement is to help the Australian Government manage the costs of telecommunications and to seek access to new and innovative telecommunications services.
AGTA achieves a reduction in telecommunications costs across the whole of the Australian Government by aggregating the government’s purchasing power – thus enabling cost and other efficiencies in telecommunications carriage, including voice, data, mobile, satellite, internet and facilities management services.
The key objectives of AGTA are:
- reduce the cost of telecommunications to government;
- reduce cost of tendering for service providers;
- encourage adoption of new technologies and improved services;
- simplify contracting between industry and government;
- ensure that all government agencies implement contracts consistently;
- provide a procurement framework that is transparent and accessible to all parties;
- encourage openness in the procurement process; and
- encourage effective competition.
Services available under AGTA
AGTA covers supply of telephony and telecommunications services, including managed services such as telecommunications facilities management and systems integration relating to telecommunications.
The Australian Government uses competitive processes wherever practical to seek access to new and innovative telecommunications services.
The types of telecommunications services a AGTA agreement covers include:
- local, long distance and international telephony;
- mobile telephony, mobile data and fleet management;
- all data services including integrated service digital network (ISDN), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), ethernet, asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) and other leased line services;
- private automatic branch exchange (PABX) installation and management, at the discretion of the agency
- satellite-based data and telephony services;
- managed voice and data services including inbound services (for example, 13, 1300 and 1800 services); and
- related telecommunications services such as voice over IP (VoIP), virtual private networks (VPN) and video conferencing carriage.
Customers may choose to purchase telecommunications hardware under AGTA as part of a service. It is not necessary to have a separate contract for hardware. However, where a contract is for supply of hardware only (such as telephones, video-conference equipment, routers and switches) the parties may use the government Source IT framework, or some other appropriate form of contract.
Departments and agencies required to use AGTA
Departments and agencies required to use AGTA include those that operate under:
- The Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 [
] (Cwth) (FMA Act); and - The Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 [] (Cwth) (CAC Act) where the relevant Minister has instructed the Agency to comply with the government decision (see Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (Cwth) s.28 Commonwealth Authorities and s.43 Wholly Owned Commonwealth Companies). In the absence of ministerial directive, these CAC agencies may choose to purchase under AGTA if they see fit and if there is no conflict with competitive neutrality principles.
Contact for information on this page: ictprocurement@finance.gov.au