RMG-423 has been amended to reflect updates to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, effective 1 July 2024. If you have questions regarding the CPRs, please contact Procurement Agency Advice.
Audience
This guide is relevant to:
- officials in non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCEs), and
- officials in prescribed corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs) listed in section 30 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (prescribed CCEs).
Officials from NCEs and prescribed CCEs must apply the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs). For the purpose of this guide, these entities are collectively referred to as relevant entities. Officials from all other corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs) do not need to apply this guide.
Key points
This guide:
- sets out all of the publishing and reporting requirements for relevant entities under the Commonwealth Procurement Framework and other government policies
- assists relevant entities to meet their publishing and reporting obligations
- uses definitions from the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs), and
- only applies to procurement processes.
Overview
The Australian Government is committed to ensuring accountability and transparency in its procurement activities.
The CPRs set out the Australian Government’s requirements to publish key information relating to procurement and to report relevant contracts.
Under the devolved procurement framework, individual entities are responsible for conducting their own procurements, including publishing relevant information, and accurately reporting any resulting contracts on AusTender.
Relevant entities have reporting requirements additional to those in the CPRs arising from annual reporting obligations and government policies. Further links and information are provided in Other reporting obligations, exemptions and quality assurance.
Where the accountable authority is referred to in this guidance, this includes officials that the accountable authority has delegated the relevant power to.
What is AusTender?
AusTender is the central web-based facility for the publication of Australian Government procurement information, including business opportunities, annual procurement plans and procurement contracts awarded. Many of the publishing and reporting requirements are met through AusTender, the Australian Government’s central procurement information system.
- enables relevant entities to meet their procurement reporting and publishing obligations
- notifies the market of planned and actual procurement processes, providing potential suppliers with an opportunity to participate
- provides the market and the broader community with transparency regarding the outcome of a procurement
- supports secure electronic tendering to deliver integrity and efficiency for relevant entities and potential suppliers
- provides government buyers with a standard and streamlined approach to sourcing goods and services from panels through the Dynamic Sourcing for Panels (DS4P) functionality.
Relevant entities must use AusTender to publish:
- Annual Procurement Plans (APPs)
- notification of open Approaches to Market (ATMs)
- Contract Notices (CNs) and contract amendments
- Standing Offer Notices (SONs).
Detailed information on how relevant entities should enter data into AusTender can be found in relevant AusTender user guides and onscreen help guidance. Entity AusTender users can download user guides relevant to their user roles.
AusTender does not, and is not intended to, reflect actual government expenditure. Rather, AusTender reports key details of a contract that has been awarded at the end of a procurement process, including the potential maximum value of the contract over its initial term. Reporting these details achieves two important objectives:
- it provides transparency to suppliers that the awarded contract is consistent with the representations that were made to the market in the ATM
- it meets Australia’s reporting obligations under various free trade agreements.
AusTender data is used to analyse Australian Government procurement activities. Each financial year AusTender data is used for procurement statistical reporting, which includes details around the top United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC) categories for the period.
Relevant entities are required to select a UNSPSC for Planned Procurements, ATMs, SONs or CNs. While an individual procurement may include a range of goods and services, the UNSPSC should reflect the most appropriate category that relates to the majority of the goods or services being sought. Relevant codes are available from the AusTender Customised UNSPSC Codeset on data.gov.au and from the AusTender Help section.
Resources
Related resources including links to related guidance, glossary terms, publications, PGPA Act and Rule and relevant legislation are located in the right-hand menu.
Characteristics of consultancy contracts and common examples - this page outlines the characteristics of a consultancy contract and provides some common examples of consultancy engagements, and is also available under Tools and templates.
