A performance audit into whether ACT Government Agencies used procurement exemptions, pursued value for money, managed risks and maintained high standards of integrity has found the Agencies to be effective.
Auditor-General, Michael Harris said his report, Procurement exemptions and value for money, considered 33 high-value procurements undertaken by Government entities in 2019 and 2020 that used exemptions.
Mr Harris said the Government Procurement Regulation (2007) set out the processes for Government purchasing, including the need to seek three quotes or conduct an open tender process for the procurement of goods and services valued at more than $25,000.
“Entities are effectively documenting the rationale for selecting a provider without an open and competitive process,” he said.
“They are complying with the legislative requirements for using an exemption in procurement.
“ACT Government entities most often use exemptions because they assert there is a limited number of suppliers able to provide the goods and services required.”
Mr Harris said that of the procurements considered in his audit, there was inconsistency in the Agencies’ consideration of probity and ethical considerations, management of risk and optimisation of whole of life costs.
The Auditor-General said less than half of the procurements had a documented process for addressing probity issues; one third had signed Declarations of Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest; less than half of the procurements had effective risk assessments; and there was no evidence that whole of life costs was factored into value for money assessments.
He said legislation required that entities pursue value for money when undertaking procurement and, as competitive tendering wasn’t a feature of procurements using exemptions, it was imperative that entities demonstrated a value for money assessment had occurred.
“This was not consistently evident in the procurements considered in the audit; only 14 of the 33 procurements had a Tender Evaluation Plan and only eight of these resulted in a Tender Evaluation Report,” he said.
Mr Harris made four recommendations to improve the quality of value for money assessments in procurement using exemptions.
The Auditor-General’s 51-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
The audit team was Martin Handley, Tanja Porter and Stella Pakpahan with the support of David Kelly and Taylah Commisso.
