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Audit call to tighten Australian Public Service procurement06 Oct 2010Source: PS News An audit of procurement practices across the Australian Public Service has prompted the Auditor-General to remind Departments and Agencies that they should only use ‘direct sourcing’ to buy goods and services sparingly to comply with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines (CPGs). In his audit Direct Source Procurement, Auditor-General Ian McPhee reports on the sample practices of four Agencies governed by the Financial Management and Accountability Act, representing the 104 that reported AusTender activity during 2008-09. He said the CPGs established principles for procurement which placed value for money as the core requirement for Government spending, supported by the encouragement of competition; the efficient, effective and ethical use of resources; and accountability and transparency of decisionmaking. He found that of the three procurement methods permitted by the CPGs - Open Tender, Select Tender and Direct Sourcing – direct sourcing was the least likely to meet the procurement principles as it permitted agencies to deal directly with one supplier. “Agencies need to be mindful that it is generally more difficult to adhere to the procurement principles such as value for money, encouraging competition and ethical use of resources when Direct Sourcing, but under the CPGs the onus is on them to do so,” the Auditor-General said. “It should not be the default procurement approach.” Despite this, the audit found that 48 per cent of all contracts were ‘direct sourced’ in 2009, and in 85 per cent of those, “agencies approached only one supplier and either did not seek, or only sought one quote prior to procurement.” Read more here |
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