Consultants

Date



Consultants are engaged to investigate or diagnose a defined issue or problem; carry out defined research, reviews or evaluations; provide independent advice; and provide information or creative solutions to assist the Treasury in its decision-making. The most common reasons to engage consultants are:

  • unavailability of specialist inhouse resources in the time-frame allowed;
  • the need for an independent study or review; and
  • specialist skills and knowledge not available in-house.

Providers of consultancy services are selected through open tender, select tender, direct sourcing or panels. These processes are detailed in the note to Table 7 on page 140.

Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on contracts for consultancies. Information on the value of contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website www.tenders.gov.au.

During 2010-11, 77 new consultancy contracts were entered into involving total actual expenditure of $4,197,680. In addition, 37 ongoing consultancy contracts were active during 2010-11, involving total actual expenditure of $2,949,672. These amounts include GST.

Several consultancy contracts let in 2010-11 were valued at $10,000 or more (refer to Table 7 below).

Table 7: List of new consultancies over $10,000 in 2010-11

Table 7: List of new consultancies over $10,000 in 2010-11

Table 7: List of new consultancies over $10,000 in 2010-11 (continued)

Table 7: List of new consultancies over $10,000 in 2010-11

Table 7: List of new consultancies over $10,000 in 2010-11 (continued)

Table 7: List of new consultancies over $10,000 in 2010-11

Table 7: List of new consultancies over $10,000 in 2010-11 (continued)

Table 7: List of new consultancies over $10,000 in 2010-11

Note: All amounts include GST.

  1. Explanation of selection process terms:
    Open tender - a procurement procedure which publishes a request for tender, inviting all businesses that satisfy the conditions for participation to submit tenders. Public tenders are generally sought from the Australian Government AusTender website.
    Select tender - a procurement procedure which allows the procuring agency to select potential suppliers and invite them to submit tenders (including through multiuse lists). This process may only be used in certain defined circumstances.
    Direct sourcing - a form of restricted tendering, available only under certain defined circumstances, with a single potential supplier or suppliers being invited to bid due to their unique expertise and/or special ability to supply the goods and/or services sought.
    Panel - an arrangement whereby a number of suppliers, initially selected through an open tender process, may each supply property or services to an agency as specified in the panel arrangements. Quotes are sought from suppliers that have prequalified on the agency panels to supply to the government. This category includes standing offers and supplier panels where the supply of goods and services may be provided for a predetermined length of time, usually at a prearranged price.
  2. Justification for decision to use consultancy:
    A - skills currently unavailable within agency;
    B - need for specialised or professional skills; and
    C - need for independent research or assessment.