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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 11 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 3549 ..

Community Care Contracts - Tenders

Mr Wood - on 26 November 1998 asked the Minister for Health and Community Care questions in relation to the proximity of ACT Community Care to the purchasers:

(1) Can the tendering of contracts for service provisions in this area be truly competitive.

(2) Do the principles of competitive neutrality apply, and if so, how.

Mr Moore - The answers to Mr Wood's questions are as follows:

(1) The tendering is truly competitive in both practice and results. The tender panel comprises both departmental officers and officers from other departments to ensure that there is no favouritism. In recent panels, representatives of service providers and consumers have been included as observers and advisers to provide further scrutiny of process and ensure informed decision making.

It should be noted that of the ten tenders where ACT Community Care submitted proposals, it was successful in only one instance. In other cases, ACT community organisations and Kincare (which is now an ACT community organisation) were successful.

ACT Community Care is a statutory body separate from the department. Payments to the ACT Community Care are on the basis of a contract between the department and ACT Community Care.

(2) The principles of competitive neutrality apply in that, in the tender process, each proponent is assessed against a range of selection criteria. It should be noted that, under purchaser-provider arrangements, it is in ACT Community Care's interest to ensure full cost attribution in tenders to cover all costs.

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