Australian businesses benefit from new Government purchasing rules
Senator the Hon. Mathias Cormann
Minister for Finance
Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
The Government is updating the way it buys goods and services across a $57 billion government procurement market.
These changes support the Government’s long standing commitment of ensuring equitable access to government contracts for Australian businesses, in particular small business.
The updated Commonwealth Procurement Rules will take effect from 1 March 2017 and will require that:
- for a procurement above $4 million, there will be a requirement to consider the economic benefit of the procurement to the Australian economy;
- procurement is consistent with relevant regulations and regulatory frameworks and reasonable enquiries will be expected to made into a prospective supplier’s employment practices, occupational health and safety and environmental impact; and
- where a standard is applicable, tender responses must demonstrate the capability to meet the Australian or international standards and reasonable steps must be taken to check for evidence of compliance.
Over 94 per cent of Australian Government contracts reported in 2015-16 were Australian sourced or delivered.
The updates to the procurement rules build on these solid results, support ethical supplier practices and recognise the contribution Australian businesses make to our economy.
The updates ensure that contract decisions are informed by more complete information.
Potential suppliers to Government will continue to be treated equitably and cannot be discriminated against based on their size, location or ownership. This is an important principle that ensures access by Australian exporters to overseas markets.
Karen Wu - 0428 350 139