Effective Commonwealth procurement

PARLIAMENT'S Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit has tabled its second report on Commonwealth Procurement, based on three Auditor-General’s reports.

The reports considered were:

• No. 12 (2017-18), Management of the Contract for the Telephone Universal Service Obligations
• No. 9 (2017-18), Management of the Pre-construction Phase of the Inland Rail Program
• No. 61 (2016-17), Procurement of the National Cancer Screening Register

Committee chair Dean Smith said the committee had made a number of recommendations in its report to improve procurement management across the important areas of health, telecommunications and infrastructure.

“Under Commonwealth Procurement Rules, Commonwealth agencies must achieve value for money in procurement processes that are competitive, robust and transparent,” Senator Smith said.

“Effective Commonwealth procurement is a key focus of the Joint Committee for Public Accounts and Audit in its role in scrutinising the governance, performance and accountability of Commonwealth agencies.”

The report’s recommendations include that:

• the Department of the Communications and the Arts report back on: whether it will be utilising flexibility mechanisms under the Telstra Universal Service Obligation Performance Agreement (TUSOPA) to improve value for money outcomes; how the department’s TUSOPA contract performance reporting assurance processes have been strengthened; and the transition from TUSOPA to the new Universal Service Guarantee
• the Australian Rail Track Corporation: report back on actions taken to develop an appropriate risk management system for the Corporation and Inland Rail project; and provide a copy of the procurement guidelines used for the project to demonstrate officials have adequate procurement guidance
• the Parliamentary Budget Office consider how information in the Budget papers could be augmented to improve parliamentary scrutiny of the expected rates of drawdown for investments and value of commitments without compromising commercially sensitive information
• the Department of Health report back on: the implementation status of the national bowel cancer screening register and national cervical cancer screening register transition under the National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR); how it is proactively managing the contract to ensure value for money; the objectives and planned performance information for the NCSR; how it will improve consideration of risk during future procurement planning; whether the Auditor-General had access to all departmental records relevant to Audit Report No. 61; and how it is improving procurement record keeping
• the Department of Finance, together with the Australian Public Service Commission, write to all Commonwealth entities reminding them of their obligations as regards full compliance with conflict of interest requirements

Interested members of the public may wish to track the Committee via the website.

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