List of recommendations

Recommendation 1

3.57The committee recommends that the Australian Government develop a clear and operational definition of sovereign capability as part of the broader Future Made in Australia agenda that can be used to inform future procurement decisions.

Recommendation 2

3.58The committee recommends that the Australian Government consider:

increasing the procurement targets for non-corporate Commonwealth entities to source at least 20 per cent of procurement by value from SMEs and 35 per cent of contracts, by value, with a value of up to $20 million from SMEs set out in the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

reviewing the Commonwealth Procurement Rules with a view to ensure that official procurement guidance to officials is aligned with the broader Future Made in Australia package.

Recommendation 3

3.59The committee recommends that the Australian Government scales the Business Research and Innovation Initiative to increase opportunities for emerging sovereign Australian tech companies to showcase their capabilities to government officials by solving public-sector problems in a ‘sandbox’ environment outside of standard procurement processes, with a particular focus on providing opportunities to firms with between two and 20 full-time equivalent employees.

Recommendation 4

3.60The committee recommends that the Australian Government addresses conflicts of interest in procurement by mandating that all suppliers disclose their commercial relationships with any other suppliers that are working on the same project to which the procurement is related, be it above the line or below the line.

Recommendation 5

3.61The committee recommends that the Australian Government improve the integration of grant programs with procurement processes, giving sovereign Australian small and medium enterprises that have developed products through Australian Government grants the opportunity to supply those products to the Australian Government.