A performance audit of the Department of Education’s capability to manage contracts for the delivery of high-value goods and services has found that it did possess the skills but a number of improvements could be made.
In her report, Ensuring Contract Management Capability in Government— Department of Education, Auditor-General Margaret Crawford examined whether the Department had the expertise to manage contracts of more than $250,000.
She found that in the 2017-18 financial year the Department managed high-value goods and services contracts worth $3.08 billion, with most of the contracts running over multiple years.
“We assessed the Department against the following criteria,” Ms Crawford said, “the Department’s policies and procedures support effective contract management and are consistent with relevant frameworks, policies and guidelines and that it has capable personnel to effectively conduct the monitoring activities throughout the life of the contract.”
“The Department has relevant procedures and policies for goods and services contract management and has set out the required capabilities for contract management roles.”
She said the audit concluded the Department’s procedures and policies were consistent with relevant guidance and that it also had a systemic approach to defining the capability required for contract management roles.
“That said, there are gaps in how well the Department uses this capability to ensure its contracts are performing,” Ms Crawford said.
“We also found one program (comprising 645 contracts) that was not compliant with the Department’s policies,” she said.
“The Department provides some guidance on different ways that contract managers can validate performance information provided by suppliers.”
She said however that the Department did not provide guidance to assist contract managers to choose the best validation strategy according to contract risk.
“This could lead to inconsistent practice and contracts not delivering what they are supposed to,” Ms Crawford said.
The Auditor-General’s 22-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
