Purchasing
The department’s procurement policies are consistent with the provisions of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines (CPGs). The Contracts and Procurement Advice Section (CPAS), Legal Division provides specialist advice and assistance to all areas of the department engaged in procurement, through:
- a dedicated helpdesk for all procurement requests for advice
- in-house legal advice and the management of external legal advice in relation to procurement
- the management of a panel for Competitive Tendering and Contracting advice
- the development and maintenance of policy documentation including procurement and contracting templates
- the coordination of the department’s procurement reporting responsibilities
- the provision of internal and external procurement and contracting training throughout the department.
The department makes use of AusTender in its procurement activities. To help in the effective monitoring and reporting of its contracting activities, the department maintains a national contracts register. It also publishes an annual procurement plan on AusTender, in accordance with the requirements of the CPGs and the relevant guidelines.
As part of its commitment to ensuring that the department has well trained and supported staff, CPAS delivered a series of government procurement and contract management education and training courses, ranging from fundamentals to more advanced topics for officers regularly engaged in purchasing and contract management. Of particular note was the successful training of the 2006-07 graduate intake in government procurement. In addition, CPAS also coordinated the delivery of accredited training in Certificate IV in Government (Procurement) and the Diploma in Government (Contract Management).
Purchaser provider arrangements – DIAC and DFAT/AUSTRADE service level agreements
The department has purchaser arrangements with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Austrade for the purchase of management services at overseas posts.
The Service Level Agreements (SLAs) remove duplication of administrative services supporting an efficient, whole-of-government use of resources overseas. They detail the provision of management services, agency responsibilities, performance indicators and cost recovery arrangements for the term of the agreement. Management services include personnel, office, property and financial services. Each SLA also includes a dispute resolution mechanism and a provision for reduced fees if services are not provided to the agreed standard, based on the performance indicators.
Control arrangements
The DFAT SLA applies from 1 September 2004 to 31 August 2007. The department is currently negotiating with DFAT for a new SLA to commence from 1 September 2007. It signed a purchaser agreement with Austrade, effective from 1 April 2006 to 30 June 2009, which may be extended annually.
Resourcing
The department pays global service fees to cover the costs to DFAT and Austrade for delivering the services.
The fees are calculated on the basis of locally engaged staff salaries, the time spent by those staff delivering management services for the department and the number of departmental A-based and/or locally engaged employees at post. The total SLA fees for 2006-07 were $5 363 863 (DFAT) and $373 926 (Austrade).
Performance
The SLAs contribute to the department’s outcomes by delivering the efficient management services at overseas posts.