We contributed to the Commonwealth Treasury consultation on unfair contract terms (UCT), agreeing with the majority of recommendations made by participating ministers in November 2020. 

Additionally, we advocated for an allocation of more power and resources to the ACCC to investigate UCT issues raised by small businesses, the establishment of a searchable and public register of UCTs to inform and empower small businesses, and industry involvement in the determination of the exempted clauses. 

22 September 2021

#procurement

Consult Australia along with 13 other industry bodies signed a joint letter calling on the Commonwealth government to act now on procurement reform to ensure the sustainability of the construction ecosystem.

Consult Australia has also made a submission that takes a deeper dive on solutions to problematic procurement practices.

2 August 2021

#procurement

Consult Australia has contributed to the Insurance Council of Australia’s consultation on the role of the private insurance market, calling on the ICA to work with us to advocate for government action to de-risk the market.

August 2021

Submission to Productivity Commission

We submitted to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into SA's regulatory framework, advocating for the use of standardised contracts, reasonable insurance requirements and better procurement practices. You can read our submission here. Despite the terms of reference for the Inquiry being broad and was said to cover 'any government policy', the Productivity Commission recently responded that procurement matters were out of scope. We will continue to advocate on these issues in Australia as they extend beyond procurement and are business critical issues.

June 2021

Insurance and contract terms key barriers to supplying to government

The NSW government wants to make it easier for small and medium businesses to sell to NSW government, with the Small Business Commissioner calling for submissions on the key barriers. Consult Australia’s submission stressed how insurance obligations and contract terms were the key barriers for our small business members. We talked proportionate liability, fitness for purpose, liability caps and warranties as examples of onerous contract terms. Contact Kristy to discuss the onerous contracts you’ve seen (whether from private or public clients).

April 2021 

See our submission to the Federal Treasury's consultation on the 2021-22 Budget.  Our procurement recommendations include:

• A call for the Federal Government to work with states and territories to improve civil liability legislation across the country
• Practical improvements to Australian Consumer Law
• To continue funding for the National Centre of Procurement Excellence
• Adopting our Model Client Policy

February 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

March 2020