Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines - December 2008
Foreword
I am pleased to issue updated Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines under Regulation 7 of the Financial Management and Accountability Regulations 1997.
The Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines represent the policy framework under which agencies govern and undertake their own procurement.
While Chief Executives are responsible for the management of their agencies, they are required to manage within the context of the Government’s policy framework. Under the FMA legislation, Chief Executives must promote the proper use of resources within the framework of policies that the Government has set for them. In effect, this means that achieving efficient, effective and ethical procurement outcomes - as required by section 44 of the FMA Act - involves doing so consistently with Government policies that may impact on procurement. This obligation is reinforced by the requirement in FMA Regulation 9 that Chief Executives and other approvers of public expenditure must be satisfied that the proposed expenditure is in accordance with the policies of the Government.
These Guidelines focus on value for money and how it may be achieved by agencies when undertaking procurement. This reflects the Government's approach of doing what works to get the job done.
In particular, there is provision for coordinated procurement contracting across the whole of government. This aims to enable the Australian Government to achieve better terms commensurate with the aggregated value of its participation in a particular market sector. It will also create efficiencies for agencies and for potential suppliers including through a reduced number of approaches to the market.
There is also a focus on agencies adopting processes that reflect the scale and risk profile of a procurement. Simple procurements should be undertaken using simple processes. Agencies should seek to ensure that wherever possible their processes allow for suppliers to provide innovative solutions to their requirements.
Of course, governments must be accountable for public resources. AusTender is a most valuable tool in helping us to achieve world-leading performance in accountability and transparency for procurement. Agencies must ensure requirements to report on AusTender receive a high priority.
I commend these Guidelines to Australian Government officials involved in procurement.
Lindsay Tanner
Minister for Finance and Deregulation