Page 620 - Week 02 - Thursday, 24 March 2022

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of the Government Procurement Act 2001, the Government Procurement Regulation 2007 and all relevant policy and guidance material;

(b) the ACT Government welcomes the ACT Auditor-General’s report on the Campbell Primary School Modernisation Project procurement and is currently developing a formal response to the report’s recommendations. This response will be tabled in the Assembly during the April sittings;

(c) the Auditor-General undertook an audit on procurement exemptions and value for money in 2021. A government response was tabled in relation to that audit in October 2021 and Procurement ACT is progressing a work plan to implement its recommendations. The Auditor-General has also undertaken at least three other audits that relate to procurement processes in recent years;

(d) separately, in 2021, the ACT Head of Service commissioned an independent review of Procurement ACT to establish whether it is delivering its role effectively and efficiently. A copy of this review will be released publicly as part of the Government’s response to the Auditor-General’s inquiry into the Campbell Primary School Modernisation Project, along with details of further priorities for ongoing improvements to transparency, probity and accountability in ACT Government procurement;

(e) the Standing Committee on Public Accounts has an ongoing inquiry into the Auditor-General’s report on the Campbell Primary School Modernisation Project; and

(f) the ACT Government established the ACT Integrity Commission in 2019, considered Australia’s strongest integrity framework. Last month, the Integrity Commissioner made a public call for information on ACT Government procurement processes. The Commission will determine whether an investigation is justified;

(2) further notes that, since the procurement process was undertaken for the Campbell Primary School Modernisation Project, the ACT Government has made improvements and updates to procurement frameworks and guidance, as part of a process of continuous improvement. These include:

(a) releasing the Probity in Procurement Guide which provides guidance on probity and how to maintain probity in ACT Government procurement processes. The Guide was reviewed and updated in May 2021 and again in February 2022;

(b) establishing a Supplier Complaints Management Procedure for managing supplier complaints about the conduct of Territory procurement in a consistent way across government;

(c) developing a range of factsheets and better practice guidance on key procurement topics and how they relate to the Territory, available on the Procurement ACT website;

(d) creating live virtual and face-to-face training on a range of procurement related topics, such as Probity, Procurement and Commissioning, Value for Money and Procurement and Panel Management;


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