Our procurement activities promote improved procurement practices to enable better project outcomes. We focus on tender arrangements, risk allocation, contract models and terms as well as liability reform.
Our Uplifting Productivity report demonstrates how to deliver economic growth through best practice procurement. Reform does not need to be an invention test - the report's recommendations rely on past projects where collaboration and communication were prioritised.
Read more
A campaign for governments to adopt a model client policy, to promote greater standardisation of contracts, and to improve tendering arrangements. Read our Model Client Policy.
Download Now
Industry stakeholders agree that better procurement practice will unlock innovation. By focussing on best practice, we can achieve better outcomes
Read our Innovation in Infrastructure report.
A campaign to tackle unfair contract terms and increase collaborative contracting. We advocate for improvements to the Australian Consumer Law Unfair Contract Terms Protections including application to government contracts.
Read our Submission - Unfair Contract Term Protections (March 2020)
See our submission to the Federal Treasury's consultation on the 2021-22 Budget. Our procurement recommendations include:
February 2021
Members are encouraged to have a look at the new range of Business Guides & Client Briefings relevant to contracts. We continually update the range, popular topics include:
Business Guides are for members to use within their businesses to increase team understanding of the relevant topic. Client Briefings are for members to share with their clients as a knowledge-sharing tool.
Would like other contract issues covered? Let Kristy know!
April 2021
See our submission for the Federal Treasury's consultation on the 2020-21 Budget. We emphasis the importance of infrastructure and built environment for Australia's COVID-19 economic recovery. Our procurement recommendations include continued funding for the National Centre of Procurement Excellence, and the adoption of our Model Client Policy.
August 2020
See our submission on the WA Debarment Regime proposed by WA Treasury, as part of its broader procurement reform agenda. The regime would give the government the power to debar suppliers for between two and five years. This is a novel approach for Australia – no other state or territory has introduced such a scheme. We raised concerns about suspension during an investigation and a lack of clarity on review rights. We also raised how potentially the application of the regime to ‘affiliates’ (defined broadly within the proposed regime) might capture the commercial arrangements consultants are part of on major infrastructure projects (such as join ventures and alliances).
July 2020
See our submission on the Payment Times Reporting Framework released by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. We supported the move to ensure small businesses are paid on time - but noted that government clients are among the worst at paying on time. We raised concerns with the proposed enforcement regime and suggested that the framework capture internal policies or use of third parties/apps that could impact on payment times.
March 2020
See our submission to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman’s Supply Chain Financing Review where we raised concerns about extended payments time and the influence of market power. Our small business members have limited experience with supply chain financing/reverse factoring but face significant issues on extended payment times
Our procurement policy and advocacy campaigns are member-driven by our state/territory committees, our Liability & Contracts Roundtable and our Defence Roundtable.
From time to time we need input from the broader Consult Australia membership to drive our initiatives and engagement - see Latest News.
For more information about our procurement work, please contact Kristy Eulenstein, Policy Lead (Procurement & Practice) at kristy@consultaustralia.com.au.