PPT Slide
Review of Government Purchasing Arrangements and Connection with Premier’s Statement on Openness and Probity
The Review of Victorian Government Purchasing Arrangements was completed by KPMG Consulting in June 2000. KPMG’s recommendations in the specific area of probity in procurement have been largely accepted by the Government and implemented as part of the Premier’s Statement “Ensuring Openness and Probity in Victorian Government Contracting” issued on 11 October 2000. That Statement drew from several sources including KPMG’s Review, Professor Bill Russell’s “Audit Review of Government Contracting” and two reports of the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee.
The Premier’s Statement can be found in full via a hotlink from the Victorian Government Purchasing Board’s (VGPB) website www.vgpb.vic.gov.au. Key directions include:
- Independent scrutiny of departmental contracts by VGPB to continue.
- Construction contracts will also be subject to independent scrutiny.
- Government contracts worth more than $10 million and headline details of all contracts worth more than $100,000 will now be made publicly available on the Internet. The public can access these contracts at www.contracts.vic.gov.au or via a hotlink from the Board’s website.
- The Government will disclose up to 70 contracts entered into by Kennet Government on the VGPB website. A large number of these contracts are already available.
- Freedom of Information principles will apply in managing any exceptions (only trade secrets or genuinely confidential information will be withheld from disclosure, along with material that if disclosed would seriously harm the public interest).
- Ministers will notify Parliament of reasons for non-disclosure of contracts (eg. major events, business attraction) in annual reports.
- Any Government Department letting a tender worth more than $10 million is now required to develop a probity plan. In addition, the Secretary of each Department will have the option, for particularly large, sensitive or complex transactions, of appointing an external auditor to provide ongoing advice on probity issues throughout the tendering process.
- All public sector agencies and Government Business Enterprises are required to articulate probity standards which must be at least as strong as the VGPB’s.
To support the Government’s disclosure requirements, the VGPB has released a policy ‘Disclosure of Contracts: Contracts Publishing System’. This policy outlines the Government’s contract reporting requirements in further detail.
KPMG’s other recommendations eg. in the areas of regional or local development impact of tenders, more consistent application of procurement policy standards across the wider public sector beyond Government departments, wider monitoring of electronic commerce implementation strategies, study of reasons for waiving public tender requirements are currently under consideration by Government and further advice will follow.
For further information, please contact Diana Joslin, Manager Policy Projects on (03) 9651 2275.
- John Rickard (Tel. 03 9651 2162)