Procurement
The department applies the requirements of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act and the Commonwealth Procurement Rules. No issues were identified with the department's procurement practices during the reporting period. The department supports small business participation in the Commonwealth Government procurement market. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Small Enterprise participation statistics are available on the Department of Finance's website. The department has adopted the Commonwealth Contracting Suite for low-risk procurements valued under $200,000 and electronic systems and processes are used to facilitate on-time payment performance.
Consultancy and non-consultancy contracts
The department engages consultants to provide specialist expertise when not available within the department, or where an independent assessment is desirable.
The department uses various selection processes to engage consultants including open tender, selective tender, direct sourcing, a panel of recognised or pre-eminent experts, or consultants who have previously undertaken work for the department or are known to have the requisite skills.
Decisions to engage consultants during 2023–24 were made in accordance with the PGPA Act and related regulations, including the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and relevant internal policies.
Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on reportable consultancy and non-consultancy contracts. Information on the value of reportable contracts is available on the AusTender website.
Expenditure on reportable consultancy contracts
During 2023–24, two new consultancy contracts were entered into involving total expenditure of $0.08m. In addition, five ongoing consultancy contracts were active during the period, involving total actual expenditure of $0.21m.
This amount does not include $0.18m for the provision of independent legal advice supporting the work of the two legislative scrutiny committees and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Expenditure on reportable non-consultancy contracts