Sustainability: public sector procurement has 'considerable work to do'

Stung by criticism from the federal Auditor-General over the lack of progress in greening public offices, the Australian Government Information Management Office has rushed out a list of "quick wins" in energy savings for agencies to follow.
Priority actions include automatic shutdown of desktops and laptops after hours, replacing active screensavers with black screens and metering hardware power consumption.

"All agencies should implement the quick wins within their environments," an AGIMO spokesman said. "This is a first step towards reducing the impact of government ICT operations, and will build towards an integrated sustainability plan."

The new green targets mirror the recommendations of the Australian National Audit Office in its Green Office Procurement and Sustainability report.

The report says the public sector has "considerable work to do" through procurement practices to achieve the government's goal of greater sustainability, with many issues identified in a 2005 audit still unresolved.

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