Purpose
This Procurement Policy Note sets out the Australian Government’s policy on the procurement of high value consultancy services. Under the policy, each quarter, entities subject to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) are required to provide the Department of Finance (Finance) a report of all new consultancy services contracts valued at or above $2 million (GST inclusive) and consultancy services contracts that have been varied so that their amended value is at or above $2 million (GST inclusive) (noting contract variations requirements outlined in Procurement Policy Note: senior oversight of contract variations).
This policy strengthens the transparency and oversight of significant consultancy procurement activities across the Commonwealth.
Scope
Between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027, for each quarter, relevant entities must provide Finance with a report informing of all consultancy services contracts reported on AusTender in that quarter with a contract value at or above $2 million (GST inclusive). For the purposes of this reporting requirement, the contract value is the value reported on AusTender and does not include any unexercised contract extensions/options.
Entities must also include any consultancy contracts that have been varied or had contract options exercised and reported on AusTender in that quarter, where the resulting total contract value is increased to, or above, $2 million (GST inclusive). If a contract has previously been reported to Finance in line with this policy, it does not need to be reported again in a subsequent reporting period unless a later variation or exercised contract option increases the total contract value.
Entities must report the following information for all in-scope consultancy contracts:
- Contract details as reported on AusTender, including:
- The contract notice ID;
- The reported contract value;
- The contract description;
- Details of pre-market planning, including:
- alignment with the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework;
- consideration of existing Commonwealth resources, such as previous reports, internal expertise, existing data, prior research, intellectual property or related work undertaken by other Commonwealth entities;
- any incumbency risks identified, in instances where the procurement is replacing an existing contract for the same or similar services, or arises from contracted work previously completed (such as recommendations of a review).
The first report is due to Finance by 31 October 2026 and will cover the reporting period from 1 July to 30 September 2026.
Following receipt of the report, Finance will undertake a review to confirm compliance with the policy.
From 1 July 2027, this arrangement will be replaced by the requirement to report this information on an annual basis in entities’ annual reports. Further information regarding annual reporting requirements will be provided in early 2027.
Template and guidance
Download the reporting template.
Additionally, to support entities to prepare the relevant information required for reporting, Finance has developed guidance intended to assist entities in working through relevant considerations during pre market planning and in capturing the required procurement information.
