Footnotes

Chapter 1 - Background

[1]        Other measures include procedural orders of continuing effect nos. 7 (Senate and Senate Select committees – claims of commercial confidentiality) and 10 (Agency advertising and public information projects), Standing Orders and Other Orders of the Senate, September 2006.

[2]        Senator Murray, Adjournment Speech, Senate Hansard, 26 August 1999, p. 7888.

[3]        The Department of Finance and Administration (DOFA) in conjunction with the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has developed guidelines specifying when and how confidentiality provisions should apply. See the discussion of DOFA guidance in Chapter 2.

[4]        http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/fapa_ctte/completed_inquiries/1999-02/ accnt_contract/report2/report2.pdf.

[5]        http://www.anao.gov.au/WebSite.nsf/Publications/4A256AE90015F69BCA256A56002785D5.

[6]        http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/fapa_ctte/completed_inquiries/1999-02/ accnt_contract/report2/report1.pdf.

[7]        Senator Ian Campbell, Senate Order on Government Agency Contracts, Government Response, Senate Hansard, 27 August 2001, p. 26668.

[8]        Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee, Departmental and agency contracts, Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order for the production of lists of departmental and agency contracts, December 2002 (hereafter Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order).

[9]        Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 33.

[10]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 35.

[11]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 15.

[12]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 14.

[13]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 35.

[14]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 17.

[15]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 36.

[16]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 23.

[17]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 38.

[18]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 39.

[19]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 41.

[20]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 42.

[21]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 41.

[22]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 43.

[23]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, pp 46–47.

[24]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 44.

[25]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 29.

[26]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 29.

[27]      For the Committee's discussion on this point, see Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 29 and p. 45.

[28]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, pp 45–46.

[29]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 48.

[30]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 35.

[31]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 35.

Chapter 2 - Developments related to the order since 2002

[1]        Government Response to Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee Report, Departmental and agency contracts, June 2003 (hereafter 'Government response'), p. 1.

[2]        Government response, p. 2.

[3]        Government response p. 6.

[4]        Mr Harry Evans, Clerk of the Senate, correspondence, 13 June 2003; ANAO correspondence, 3 September 2003.

[5]        Finance and Public Administration References Committee, correspondence, 17 October 2003.

[6]        Finance and Public Administration References Committee, correspondence, 17 October 2003.

[7]        Finance and Public Administration References Committee, correspondence, 17 October 2003.

[8]        Senator Michael Forshaw, Senate Hansard, 18 June 2003, p. 11709.

[9]        ANAO correspondence, 11 September 2003.

[10]      Department of Finance and Administration, 2003, Guidance on Confidentiality of Contractor's Commercial Information, p. 3.

[11]      Department of Finance and Administration, 2003, Guidance on Confidentiality of Contractor's Commercial Information, p. 4.

[12]      Department of Finance and Administration, 2003, Guidance on Confidentiality of Contractor's Commercial Information, p. 5.

[13]      DOFA, Commonwealth procurement guidelines – January 2005, Financial Management Guidance No. 1, p. 20.

[14]      Department of Finance and Administration correspondence, 18 February 2004.

[15]      ANAO Report No.10, p. 38.

[16]      ANAO Report No.10, p. 38.

[17]      ANAO correspondence, 7 May 2004.

Chapter 3 - Compliance and other trends since 2002

[1]        Mr Watson, ANAO, Committee Hansard, 25 March 2004, p. 2.

[2]        ANAO, The Senate Order for Departmental and Agency Contracts (Spring 2002 Compliance), Audit Report No. 32, 2002-2003 (hereafter ANAO Report No. 32).

[3]        ANAO, The Senate Order for Departmental and Agency Contracts (Autumn 2003), Audit Report No. 5, 2003-2004 (hereafter ANAO Report No. 5-03).

[4]        ANAO, The Senate Order for Departmental and Agency Contracts (Financial Year 2002-2003 Compliance), Audit Report No. 31, 2003-2004 (hereafter ANAO Report No. 31).

[5]        ANAO, The Senate Order for Departmental and Agency Contracts (Calendar Year 2003 Compliance), Audit Report No. 10, 2004-2005 (hereafter ANAO Report No. 10).

[6]        ANAO, The Senate Order for Departmental and Agency Contracts (Calendar Year 2004 Compliance), Audit Report No. 11, 2005-2006 (hereafter ANAO Report No. 11).

[7]        ANAO, The Senate Order for Departmental and Agency Contracts (Calendar Year 2004 Compliance), Audit Report No. 5 2006-2007(hereafter ANAO Report No. 5-06).

[8]        ANAO Report No. 11, p. 21.

[9]        Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit, Committee Hansard, 22 May 2006, p. 2.

[10]      ANAO, Report No.5-06, p. 13.

[11]      ANAO, Report No.5-06, p. 14.

[12]      Mr Coleman, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 8.

[13]      ANAO, Reporting of expenditure on consultancies, Audit Report No.27 2005-2006, January 2006, p. 59.

[14]      Reporting of expenditure on consultancies, p. 65.

[15]      ANAO, Implementation of the revised Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines, Audit Report No.21 2006-2007, pp 43-45.

[16]      ANAO Report No.5-06, p. 22.

[17]      Mr Boyd, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 6 and see also his discussion of the audit on p. 5.

[18]      See, for example, ANAO Report No.11, pp 27-28.

[19]      ANAO, Implementation of the revised Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines, Audit Report No.21 2006-2007, p. 45.

[20]      See the discussion of this point in relation to the order in Committee Hansard, Additional Budget Estimates, 15 February 2005, pp 29-33.

[21]      Committee Hansard, 27 December 2006, p. 8.

[22]      One of the key distinctions, in short, is that confidential information must be identified specifically and not in global terms, whereas 'other requirements of confidentiality' relate to information which may be obtained or generated in the carrying out of the contract and cannot be identified specifically when the contract is entered into.

[23]      ANAO, Report No.5-06, p. 14 and pp 32-39.

[24]      Mr Evans, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 11.

[25]      Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit, Committee Hansard, 22 May 2006, p. 2.

Chapter 4 - Mechanisms for improving compliance and transparency

[1]        Committee Hansard, 25 March 2004, pp 9-10.

[2]        ANAO, correspondence, 7 May 2004.

[3]        ANAO, correspondence, 7 May 2004.

[4]        Committee Hansard, 25 March 2004, p. 9.

[5]        ANAO, correspondence, 7 May 2004

[6]        Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee, Commonwealth Contracts: a New Framework for Accountability, September 2001, p. 29. GaPS – Gazette Publishing System.

[7]        Government Response to Senate Finance and Public Administration Reference Committee Report Commonwealth Contracts: A New Framework for Accountability, June 2002, p. 5.

[8]        ANAO, correspondence, 7 May 2004.

[9]        ANAO, correspondence, 7 May 2004.

[10]      ANAO, Reporting of expenditure on consultancies, Audit Report No.27 2005-2006, January 2006.

[11]      ANAO, Reporting of expenditure on consultancies, passim. See also Mr Boyd, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, pp 5-7. DOFA provided the following illustration of how the different reporting requirements can produce apparently inconsistent yet nonetheless valid results under the three regimes:

[12]      Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 7.

[13]      ANAO, Reporting of expenditure on consultancies, p. 68.

[14]      Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 7. GaPS was a forerunner of AusTender and has since 2005 become a function of the latter.

[15]      DOFA, Discussion Paper: Reporting of Procurement Outcomes, August 2006 [hereafter Reporting of Procurement Outcomes].

[16]      Mr McIntyre, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, pp 4-6.

[17]      Reporting of Procurement Outcomes, p. 5 referring to ANAO, Reporting of expenditure on consultancies, pp 62-64.

[18]      Mr Grant, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, pp 17-18.

[19]      Mr McIntyre, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 7.

[20]      Mr McIntyre, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 5. See also Mr Grant, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 10: 'Officers will learn to comply very quickly, otherwise they will be breaching the Commonwealth procurement guidelines which are supported by the Finance regulations and the FMA Act'.

[21]      Mr Grant, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 3.

[22]      Mr McIntyre, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 6.

[23]      Mr McIntyre, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, pp 6-7.

[24]      Mr Grant, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 3.     

[25]      Mr Grant, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 10.

[26]      Mr Coleman, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 8.

[27]      Ms Bird, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 3.

[28]      Mr McIntyre, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, pp 8-9.

[29]      Mr Grant, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 9.

[30]      Report on the first year of operation of the Senate order, p. 18.

[31]      ANAO, Implementation of the revised Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines, Audit Report No.21 2006-2007, pp 43-45. See also ANAO reports on compliance audits, listed at the start of chapter 3.

[32]      Mr Evans, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 12.

[33]      Clerk of the Senate, Advice to Committee, 4 September 2006, p. 2. See also the Clerk's subsequent advice, 12 October 2006, p. 1.

[34]      Clerk of the Senate, Advice to Committee, 12 October 2006, p. 1. Paragraph 1 of the order requires ministers to table in the Parliament a letter of advice that a list of contracts in accordance with paragraph (2) has been placed on the Internet, with access to the list through the department's or agency's homepage. See appendix 2 for the order.

[35]      Mr Grant, Committee Hansard, 11 October 2006, p. 9.

[36]      Clerk of the Senate, Advice to Committee, 12 October 2006, p. 2. See also Mr Evans, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 13.

Chapter 5 - Conclusion and recommendations

[1]        Mr Evans, Committee Hansard, 27 November 2006, p. 13.

[2]        Finance Minister's (CAC Act Procurement) Directions, 1 December 2004. The $400 000 threshold relates to property or services other than construction services. The threshold for construction services is above $6 million.