Our purchasing activities were undertaken in accordance with the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act), Commonwealth Procurement Rules and all Procurement Connected Policies including the Indigenous Procurement Policy.

The CEO’s Accountable Authority Instructions (AAIs) support these principles by providing further direction to DTA officials when conducting procurements on behalf of our agency. The AAIs are based on the principles of a competitive, non-discriminatory procurement processes, proper use of government resources, and making decisions in an accountable and transparent manner.

Our centralised procurement team provides guidance and advice for DTA officials undertaking procurement activities.

In 2019–20, we published the following on the AusTender website:

• details of publicly available business opportunities with a value of $80,000 or (inclusive of GST) more
• details of all contracts awarded with a value of $10,000 (inclusive of GST) or more.

By publishing on AusTender, we ensure that information is available to industry, including SMEs while simplifying the way business interacts with government online.

Procurement initiatives to support small business

We support small business participation in the Commonwealth Government Procurement market. SMEs and small enterprise participation statistics are available on the Department of Finance’s website.

In addition, the DTA operates the Digital Marketplace. The Digital Marketplace is an initiative under the National Innovation and Science Agenda, with the purpose of making it easier for smaller businesses to compete for the Government’s ICT products and services.

Our procurement practices support SMEs by adopting whole-of-government solutions to simplify interactions with SMEs. This includes using the Commonwealth Contracting Suite for low-risk procurements valued under $200,000. This reduces process costs for SMEs by creating contracting consistency and simplifying liability, insurance and indemnity requirements.

We recognise the importance of ensuring that small businesses are paid on time. We apply the Government’s Supplier Pay on Time or Pay Interest Policy to pay invoices no later than 20 days following the receipt of a correctly rendered tax invoice valued at $1 million or less.

Australian National Audit Office Access Clauses

There were no instances of contracts that precluded the Auditor-General from accessing the contractor’s premises (17AG(8)).

Exempt contracts

No contracts in 2019–20 were exempt from AusTender reporting.

Consultancies

The DTA engages consultants where specialist or technical expertise is required. Consultants are typically engaged to:

• investigate or diagnose a defined issue or problem
• carry out independent reviews or evaluations
• provide professional, independent, expert and objective advice
• provide recommendations to assist in decision making.

We assess the engagement of consultants to ensure value for money and compliance with the PGPA Act, the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) and AAIs.

During 2019–20, no new consultancy contracts were entered into. There were no ongoing consultancy contracts active during the period.

Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on consultancy contracts. Information on the value of the contracts is available on the AusTender website: www.tenders.gov.au.